Two weeks ago a high school in Shelby, Michigan ordered an English teacher to stop teaching students about Toni Morrison‘s novel, “Song of Solomon.”

The Nobel Prize-winning author helped the National Coalition Against Censorship launch the Free Speech Leadership Council yesterday at an intimate event at the book-filled apartment of Council chair and former HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman. The new council is a collection of community leaders working together to combat censorship around the country.

All attendees left with a copy of ‘Burn This Book,’ an anthology published by HarperStudio and PEN American Center. In this exclusive video, Morrison spoke with author and actor Fran Lebowitz about censorship in their lives and work.