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You are here: Home / Politics / WARNING: CENSORSHIP AT WORK

WARNING: CENSORSHIP AT WORK

June 10th, 2011 by Sallie Bingham in Politics, New Mexico 5 Comments

Lannan Foundation cancels John Pilger appearance/screening

John Pilger

I’ve written a great deal about the choking off of free expression by the powers that be in this country but seldom have I seen it working so nakedly as in the cancellation of an event, here in Santa Fe, by the hidden hands at the Lannan Foundation, no explanation given.

The Lannan was about to sponsor an evening devoted to an interview with the journalist John Pilger by David Barsamian, followed by a screening of Pilger’s film, “The War You Don’t See” at our local art movie house.

I’m pleased to say our local newspaper, the New Mexican, gave the unexplained cancellation a front page story; Pilger says he has been unable to get anyone at the Lannan Foundation to explain the cancellation, and the newspaper has been blocked, as well…

The interlacing of public and private, as Gloria Steinem famously explained, is choking individuals who attempt to speak out and crippling this country.

When I tried to see the trailer to Pilger’s movie, which is listed on his website, I couldn’t—YouTube showed me a message that there is a copyright problem…

This is all too familiar to me after my own struggle, years ago, to see my memoir, “Passion and Prejudice”, into print. There was an intense effort on the part of my family, armed with an array of lawyers, to intimidate me and my publisher; tomes sent to all the newspapers and magazines that then reviewed books—and there were many—influenced subsequent reviews and blackened my reputation.

But I wasn’t writing about foreign conflicts and the lies and distortion the government continues to use to manipulate us into support or at least silence.

I was writing about the kind of family that produces those lies, lies which occur in private, where wealth and power reign, as well as in public. The interlacing of public and private, as Gloria Steinem famously explained, is choking individuals who attempt to speak out and crippling this country.

SO GO AHEAD AND GOOGLE JOHN PILGER AND SEE IF YOU CAN LOOK AT THIS FILM AND LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS IMPORTANT ISSUE…

Read John Pilger’s open letter to Noam Chomsky and the general public regarding this cancellation.

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In Politics, New Mexico Lannan Foundation Sante Fe John Pilger The War You Don't See

A long and fruitful career as a writer began in 1960 with the publication of Sallie Bingham's novel, After Such Knowledge. This was followed by 15 collections of short stories in addition to novels, memoirs and plays, as well as the 2020 biography The Silver Swan: In Search of Doris Duke.

Her latest book, Taken by the Shawnee, is a work of historical fiction published by Turtle Point Press in June of 2024. Her previous memoir, Little Brother, was published by Sarabande Books in 2022. Her short story, "What I Learned From Fat Annie" won the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize in 2023 and the story "How Daddy Lost His Ear," from her forthcoming short story collection How Daddy Lost His Ear and Other Stories (September 23, 2025), received second prize in the 2023 Sean O’Faolain Short Story Competition.

She is an active and involved feminist, working for women’s empowerment, who founded the Kentucky Foundation for Women, which gives grants to Kentucky artists and writers who are feminists, The Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University, and the Women’s Project and Productions in New York City. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Sallie's complete biography is available here.

Comments

  1. Jim Terr says

    June 10th, 2011 at 3:28 pm

    what possible scenario would cause the Lannan Foundation to book this then cancel it?

    Reply
  2. Spence Porter says

    June 10th, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    The trailer is now viewable on his website.

    Reply
  3. Sallie Bingham says

    June 13th, 2011 at 10:40 am

    Jim–pure cowardice. You can be sure Patrick Lannan received a call from DC cancelling a proposed party invitation or something like that. Sallie

    Reply
  4. Jim Terr says

    June 13th, 2011 at 10:41 am

    very possible – thanks – just wondered what your theory was.

    Reply
  5. Jim Terr says

    June 13th, 2011 at 10:41 am

    I know I would certainly sell out my best friends and heroes for the right party invitation.

    Reply

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