ACLU Supporter, almost 60 years ago, we were part of a small group of students who were censored and punished for wearing black armbands to school to mourn for the dead in Vietnam and call for a ceasefire. We faced harassment and even death threats, but the ACLU defended us all the way to the Supreme Court, winning a landmark victory for students' rights in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969).

Justice Abe Fortas, writing for the majority, declared that neither teachers nor students "shed their constitutional rights… at the schoolhouse gate. … In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism…. Students are 'persons' under our constitution."

That experience left us with zero tolerance for schools that try to punish students for exercising their First Amendment right to an education free of discrimination and censorship.

But right now, students across the country are facing a harsh reality as they go back to school: censored curriculums and lists of books they are banned from reading.

The ACLU fought for us then, and they're still fighting for students now: They will never stop showing up in the courts to defend civil rights. But with book bans and school censorship on the rise in every corner of the nation, it is critical that the ACLU is fully funded if they're going to be able to keep up.

If you agree that banning books and censoring a student's right to learn is not only completely unacceptable, but downright dangerous, will you donate now to help the ACLU fight back?

We know from personal experience what it means to have the ACLU on your side in the fight for the right to education free of discrimination and censorship.

Our case wasn't the first one the ACLU took on for students' right to learn: In 1933, they successfully lifted a nationwide ban on James Joyce's "Ulysses." Today, 91 years after that first case, and over 50 years after we went to court to fight for our rights, students are still battling for their right to read and to receive an education.

The ACLU has challenged classroom censorship laws from the "Stop WOKE" Act in Florida to bills restricting teachers and students' rights to talk about race and gender in New Hampshire and Oklahoma. They're on the frontlines protecting educators' and students' right to teach and learn.

But to continue fighting against the latest wave of school censorship, the ACLU needs your support. ACLU Supporter, I'm asking: Will you donate to help the ACLU keep up this fight to ensure the next generation has the freedom to learn and the education they need to build a more perfect union?

By contributing to the ACLU, you are joining a long history of people fighting to defend free speech in schools and protect all our rights and liberties.

Thank you.

Mary Beth and John Tinker