The Philadelphia Chapter NWU presented its first Juneteenth event on June 16 at the Paul Robeson House and Museum, where Dr. Gerald Horne spoke to an excited, packed house on the topic of ‘The United States Enslavement Effecting the Present: The Globalization Struggle.’ NWU members staffed the event, including Irving Jones, chair; John Mason, secretary; […]
NWU Attends ‘Women, Genders, Sexualities’ Conference
Hofstra University welcomed the 17th Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders, and Sexualities in Long Island, NY, June 1-4. This year’s theme for the “Big Berks” was Difficult Conversations, and NWU members Rose Imperato and Brigid O’Farrell engaged in the discussions. They joined more than 1,500 historians, writers, teachers, artists, performers, and activists […]
NWU Hosts Panel on Turkey as Trial Opens for 17 Journalists
New York City, June 20 – Today NWU hosted a panel on the growing crises in Turkey and the Middle East. The panelsists included Sedat Bozkurt, a leading journalist at Fox Turkey, and Mucahit Bilici, a professor at John Jay College in NY and author of “Turkish Islam and the Kurdish Question.” The panel was […]
The Fort Point Gang May Day Memorial
We joined the Fort Point Gang’s annual May Day memorial celebration on May 4 to honor labor leaders, many of whom were members of the American Communist Party. We commemorated those brave souls who were harassed, arrested, and jailed for their thinking during the post-war, McCarthy era, which reminds us to be vigilant so that […]
“The First Casualty of War is the Truth!”
On May 4, UNESCO and the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) commemorated World Press Freedom Day at UN Headquarters in New York. The theme was “Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media’s Role in Advancing Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies.” There were two high-level panels and the audience included the diplomatic community, NGOs and journalism […]
NWU Hosts PEN America
On May 10, NWU and Creatives in Action (CIA) co-hosted Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of PEN America, who spoke about “Defending Our Democracy in the Trump Era.” This was the first time NWU has partnered with CIA and the third time we have participated with PEN America in the last six month. Previously we spoke out in […]
UN Concerned About Trump’s Intimidation of Journalists
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has issued his annual report to the UN Human Rights Council. In it he lays out a number of concerns about Donald Trump, including his intimidation of journalists and judges.: “…In the United States of America, I am concerned by the new Administration’s handling […]
Statement in Support of Freedom of the Press
NWU is proud to stand with more than 90 allied organizations in issuing this Statement in Support of Freedom of the Press. “In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the […]
NWU at Women’s March on Washington
About 50 members of the National Writers Union and our friends and family rose before dawn on January 21. We put on our pussy hats—or reasonable facsimile thereof—and climb aboard a fleet of UAW buses that formed a caravan from New York City down to the Women’s March on Washington. We demonstrated in support of […]
Preparing for Trump’s Attacks on the Press
NWU is working more closely with other writers’ groups to develop a strategy to combat the Trump Administration’s hostility towards a free press and the public’s right to know. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s opening press briefing, where he attacked the media and took no questions, and Kellyanne Conway’s theory of “Alternative Facts” are […]
NWU is the sole provider of IFJ Press Passes to freelance journalists in the U.S.