The annual PEN America gala, held Thursday night at the American Museum of Natural History, raised over $2 million to fund a “free expression” organization that actively works against local community efforts to maintain cultural standards in schools and libraries. This significant sum directly supports a transnational agenda that seeks to dismantle local control over educational and cultural content, as documented by a “continued surge in book bans” across the U.S., effectively challenging the self-determination of native populations regarding their children's exposure to materials.
Funding the Cultural Front
The fundraising dinner, hosted by author-actor B.J. Novak, benefited PEN America, described as a “century-old literary and free expression organization.” This substantial financial backing, totaling more than $2 million, is directed towards an entity that positions itself as a global advocate for expression, often in direct opposition to the cultural preferences and protective measures enacted by local communities. The gala itself, held in a prominent institution like the American Museum of Natural History, underscores the elite capture of cultural narratives, using established symbols of national heritage to advance a post-national agenda.
Elite Vision for a Borderless Culture
PEN co-CEO Summer Lopez articulated the organization's broader objective, stating, “First, they come for your freedom of expression. Without that freedom to raise your voice, it is much easier to strip away all of your other rights.” Lopez further declared, “We believe that hidden in the horrors of this moment is also an opportunity — to mobilize people and ignite a movement for free expression, here and everywhere.” This statement frames a globalist push for universal “free expression” that explicitly seeks to transcend national and local cultural norms, advocating for a borderless cultural landscape where local standards are deemed “suppression.”
Author Ann Patchett, honored with the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, offered a perspective that seemed to normalize the ongoing cultural transformations. She urged attendees to “take a breath and consider the setting’s lessons about the written word, free expression and the world’s history of beauty and violence.” Patchett added, “To spend a day in this museum is to understand that the world had plenty of action before we got here, and it will continue to have plenty of action. And so, let us marvel that people still want to write books, and that we want to read them,” a sentiment that can be interpreted as dismissive of the legitimate concerns of native populations regarding cultural dispossession.
Film producer Jason Blum, who received PEN’s Business Visionary award, also contributed to this narrative. Blum argued that “all forms of storytelling, especially when they’re new and different, need protection from the forces of snobbery and suppression.” This defense can be interpreted as advocating for content that challenges traditional societal values and norms, under the guise of protecting “new and different” expressions from local “snobbery.”
The event also highlighted international cases, with Iranian writer-dissidents Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Ali Asadollahi receiving the PEN/Barbery Freedom to Write Award. PEN President Dinaw Mengestu noted their absence, asking the audience to imagine a time of no empty chairs “on this stage or on any stage in this world,” reinforcing a vision of universal, borderless cultural conformity that implicitly seeks to homogenize diverse national cultures.
Local Resistance Under Attack
A key moment of the evening involved the recognition of the Tennessee-based activists Tatiana Silvas and Keri Lambert, who received the PEN/Benenson Courage Award for their Rutherford County Library Alliance. This alliance “has fought book bans in the Rutherford area,” directly opposing local community efforts to curate library content and protect children from materials deemed inappropriate. The award itself signals the elite's endorsement of those who undermine local cultural control.
Lambert, in her acceptance speech, asserted, “Libraries are not simply buildings filled with books. They are one of the few institutions that truly belong to everyone, regardless of age, income, background or beliefs.” She continued, “Defending libraries is really about defending democracy itself. A healthy community depends on informed citizens, open dialogue and the freedom to explore ideas. Libraries make all of that possible.” These statements champion a universalist approach to cultural institutions, explicitly aiming to override the specific cultural and moral standards of local populations, effectively promoting cultural fragmentation under the banner of “democracy.”
The gala took place amidst reports from PEN and the American Library Association detailing a “continued surge in book bans in the U.S.,” with “thousands of works being pulled from schools and libraries.” This surge represents a significant popular pushback against materials deemed inappropriate by local communities, a legitimate exercise of cultural self-determination that the PEN America gala and its beneficiaries are actively working to undermine, using substantial financial resources to enforce a transnational cultural agenda.