Pink Will Hand Out 2,000 Copies of Banned Books at Florida Concerts
Alecia Beth Moore, better known by her stage name Pink, is responding to Ron DeSantis and Florida’s book-banning legislation in the best possible way. The singer will distribute 2,000 copies of frequently banned and challenged books at her upcoming concerts in the Miami area.
Book banning has seen an unprecedented rise in the United States over the past two years, with Florida being one of the most notorious states driving this rise. Moms for Liberty sprouted from the state, and its members have been harassing school officials, filing hundreds of book challenges, and even calling the cops on Florida librarians to push book banning. Meanwhile, DeSantis is backing up these efforts by passing legislation to control what teachers can include in their curriculum and what materials classrooms and libraries can hold. Since teachers and librarians find it impossible to vet every book to ensure it complies with Florida’s laws, many have been forced to simply pull books from shelves until they can be reviewed.
However, studies have shown that the majority of Americans do not support book bans. It’s truly just a handful of people leading the book-banning effort by each filing hundreds of book challenges per year. Most realize that the government should not be able to dictate what society can access or read and that banning books violates our most basic rights. While some book banners go after bookstores and public libraries, school libraries have faced the brunt of book-banning legislation, especially in Florida. Fortunately, Pink is standing up to defy Florida’s book bans with her latest endeavor.
Pink and PEN America team up to distribute banned books in Florida
As reported by CNN, Pink is partnering with PEN America and Florida bookstore Books & Books to distribute banned books at her Florida concerts this week. She is currently on her Trustfall Tour, and concert-goers at her Miami and Sunrise show on November 14 and November 15, respectively, will receive a copy of a commonly banned book. Concertgoers will either receive Toni Morrison’s Beloved, The Family Book by Todd Parr, The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman, or a book from the Girls Who Code series. All of these books have appeared on PEN’s index of banned school books in the 2022 – 2023 school year, which means there have been recorded challenges to each book. According to PEN, Florida is leading the nation in a number of overall book challenges.
During an Instagram Live, Pink explained that she’s against book banning because strangers shouldn’t be able to dictate what her kids read. She stated, “I’m a voracious reader, and I’m a mom of two kids who are also voracious readers. And I can’t imagine my own parents telling me what my kids can and cannot read, let alone someone else’s parents, let alone someone else that doesn’t even have children that are deciding what my children can read.” Pink and PEN CEO Nossel also slammed how book banners specifically target books about BIPOC or LGBTQ+ characters, thus attempting to reverse the progress that has been made toward equality.
It is encouraging to see Pink make such a bold statement, especially in a state where school librarians are being accused of felonies for doing their jobs. Parents, librarians, and teachers increasingly have their hands tied due to DeSantis’ legislation, making it all the more important that those with the power and a platform to challenge book banning do so. Since this is a concert and not a school or a public library, there’s nothing the state can do to stop Pink’s initiative. DeSantis, Moms for Liberty, and all their followers will simply have to live with the fact that four books they’ve banned from their schools are going to be distributed to 2,000 concert-goers. It’s very satisfying that Pink is so bluntly illustrating to the state exactly what she thinks of its book banning.
(featured image: Michael Tran / Getty)
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