Flashpoints: Free Speech in American History, Culture & Society

FAIN: GG-280499-21

PEN American Center, Inc. (New York, NY 10012-5258)
Jonathan Friedman (Project Director: January 2021 to December 2024)

Implementation of ten public discussion events addressing the history and value of free speech in the United States.

Flashpoints: Free Speech in American History, Culture & Society will present the fascinating and complex history of free speech in American democracy to public audiences in cities across the country. The series will examine how free speech has evolved, illuminate past debates over who has the right to speak, and shed light on present debates about free speech in the context of protest, dissent, and the quest for social change. The historical flashpoints in this series highlight pivotal moments in which artists, activists, writers, filmmakers, and intellectuals tested the limits of free speech, challenging the public to redefine “freedom” and realize it anew for populations and causes that were at risk of having their liberties denied. Timed to mark both PEN America’s 100th anniversary in 2022 and the lead up to the U.S. semiquincentennial, the event series will run for two years from 2021-2023, and the digital resources will be available to educators and the public for years to come.

Associated Products

FLASHPOINTS: EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE HUB (Web Resource)
Title: FLASHPOINTS: EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE HUB
Author: Kristen Shahverdian
Author: Leila Markosian
Author: Erica Galluscio
Abstract: Beginning in late 2021 and continuing through 2023, PEN America and the American Historical Association (AHA) are co-hosting Flashpoints: Free Speech in American History, Culture and Society. This series presents the fascinating and complex history of free speech in American democracy to public audiences in cities across the country. The historical flashpoints highlight pivotal moments in which artists, activists, writers, filmmakers, and intellectuals tested the limits of free speech, challenging the public to redefine “freedom” and realize it anew for populations and causes that were at risk of having their liberties denied. This educational resource hub features videos, primary sources and further resources culled from the PEN America Digital Archive. In 2023 downloadable discussion guides tailored for middle school and high school educators will be included.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://pen.org/flashpoints/
Primary URL Description: This URL goes to the webpage which houses the Educational Resource materials for Flashpoints.

Professor Geoffrey R. Stone Explains the Sedition Act of 1918 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Professor Geoffrey R. Stone Explains the Sedition Act of 1918
Writer: Geoffrey R. Stone
Abstract: Geoffrey Stone on The Sedition Act of 1918
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJn4Copddtc

Professor Claire Potter Discusses the Extradition of Emma Goldman (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Professor Claire Potter Discusses the Extradition of Emma Goldman
Writer: Claire Potter
Abstract: Claire Potter on Emma Goldman’s deportation
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr4DGbuElBI

Professor Barbara Krauthamer Explores the History of Pro Abolition Petitions and Gag Orders (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Professor Barbara Krauthamer Explores the History of Pro Abolition Petitions and Gag Orders
Writer: Barbara Krauthamer
Abstract: Barbara Krauthamer on the Pro-Abolitionist Gag Rules
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LYGXwhge-A

Tara White, Flashpoint Focus: The Birmingham Movement of 1963 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Tara White, Flashpoint Focus: The Birmingham Movement of 1963
Writer: Tara White
Abstract: Tara White on the Birmingham Movement of 1963
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZY5yUIx1w0&t=3s

Amy Werbel, Flashpoint Focus: The Comstock Act of 1873 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Amy Werbel, Flashpoint Focus: The Comstock Act of 1873
Writer: Amy Werbel
Abstract: Amy Werbel on The Comstock Act of 1873
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODC4PFUJsqA&t=1s

Justin Driver, Flashpoints: Free Speech & Schools (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Justin Driver, Flashpoints: Free Speech & Schools
Writer: Justin Driver
Abstract: Schools are spaces of learning and discipline where students acquire the knowledge to thrive, but is it fair to presume that knowledge is apolitical? What rights should students have to express political views that may spark division and stir controversy in classrooms? The event will explore the range of methods students have found for expressing dissent, from anti-war armbands to banners advertising offensive messages.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By71CP6cgpg&t=1s

Gerald Horne, Flashpoint Focus: The Hollywood 10 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Gerald Horne, Flashpoint Focus: The Hollywood 10
Writer: Gerald Horne
Abstract: Gerald Horne on The Hollywood 10
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2BUN1XF7FI

Karlos Hill Flashpoint Focus: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Karlos Hill Flashpoint Focus: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
Writer: Karlos Hill
Abstract: Karlos Hill on the Tulsa Race Massacre
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zJoEKWkHkI&t=1s

Entangled Histories: Free Speech & Civil Rights from the 1960’s to Today (Flashpoints) (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Entangled Histories: Free Speech & Civil Rights from the 1960’s to Today (Flashpoints)
Writer: PEN America
Abstract: How has the First Amendment been invoked to help or to hinder the progress of civil rights? This discussion examines how the mid-1960s were a turning point not only for the Civil Rights movement, but also the history of free speech in the U.S. From the Civil Rights Act to landmark Supreme Court decisions, the boundaries of the First Amendment were tested in ways that affected civil rights in the decades following.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fojSuufb5BU&t=1s

Restricted Access: The American History of Book Banning (Flashpoints) (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Restricted Access: The American History of Book Banning (Flashpoints)
Writer: PEN America
Abstract: Censorship and book bans are nothing new in American life. In the 19th century, it was the federal Comstock laws barring the delivery and distribution of “every obscene, lewd, or lascivious” book. Today, books that highlight race, gender, or sexuality are being yanked from public shelves around the country. PEN America and the New York Public Library convened for a conversation about the history of book banning and obscenity laws on Wednesday, September 21 at the Stephen A. Schwarzman building. Featuring Ali Velshi, author Laurie Halse Anderson, and scholars Farah Jasmine Griffin, Whitney Strub, and Amy Werbel. Actor André de Shields, the star of the upcoming revival of Death of a Salesman, opened the evening reading a passage from Toni Morrison.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbDdA_cEHNs

Censored: Free Speech & Hollywood (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Censored: Free Speech & Hollywood
Writer: PEN America
Abstract: From women’s bodies on-screen to interracial romance, tensions have existed between what society deems appropriate and First Amendment rights to show controversial images and representations. When cities and states began creating censorship boards, Hollywood embraced its own code of conduct with the Hays Code in the 1930’s. In the McCarthy era of the 1950’s, alleged communists were forced out of Hollywood through blacklists. Throughout all of film’s history, questions over who has access to filmmaking, to studios and budgets has been a form of de-facto silencing of certain voices and stories. By reviewing legislation and court decisions, exploring blacklisted artists, and the opening up of representation in the late twentieth century, this humanities discussion will explore contestations around representing controversial subjects–disfavored political ideologies, women’s sexuality, interracial romance, and more–and the dangers of state-driven attempts to define ‘acceptable’ topics for creative expression. After the talk, join us for a reception featuring a cash bar and light refreshments in Central Library’s Children’s Courtyard.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efhLDO1IZ7Y

Flashpoints: Free Speech & Schools (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Flashpoints: Free Speech & Schools
Writer: PEN America
Abstract: Schools are spaces of learning and discipline where students acquire the knowledge to thrive, but is it fair to presume that knowledge is apolitical? What rights should students have to express political views that may spark division and stir controversy in classrooms? The event will explore the range of methods students have found for expressing dissent, from anti-war armbands to banners advertising offensive messages.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By71CP6cgpg&t=2s

Flashpoints | Free Speech & Hate: History’s Lessons (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Flashpoints | Free Speech & Hate: History’s Lessons
Writer: PEN America
Abstract: Should the right to free speech extend to the right to engage in hateful expression? At many points in U.S. history, the First Amendment has been invoked to protect the freedom to denigrate people and groups. From decades-old media like The Birth of a Nation, a film that celebrated the racist ideologies of the Ku Klux Klan, to recent legal battles over the reclamation of racial slurs as seen in Matal v. Tam, the question of just how far free speech should go is the focus of this panel discussion. This discussion tackles the question of how a diverse, democratic society can defend free speech while also standing up to bigotry.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQSf6kvA5zQ

Flashpoints: Free Speech in American History, Culture & Society (Web Resource)
Title: Flashpoints: Free Speech in American History, Culture & Society
Author: Leila Markosian
Abstract: Event page for Flashpoints: Free Speech in American History, Culture & Society
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://pen.org/event-series/flashpoints/

Flashpoints Sizzle Reel (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Flashpoints Sizzle Reel
Writer: PEN America
Producer: Phil Kiene
Abstract: Flashpoints Sizzle Reel
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ak0U06YHoSibcvr1KF1v0GfvjBZ26LGJ/view

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