PINK GIVES TWO THOUSAND BANNED BOOKS TO HER FANS AT HER FLORIDA CONCERT
For the 2022-2023 school year, 1,557 individual books and 3,362 books were banned. This is an increase from last year's total, with Florida leading the charge to ban books. Banned titles include Toni Morrison's "Beloved," a children's book about Anne Hutchinson, one of the first Rhode Islanders and a preacher tried by Puritans, and Todd Parr's "The Family Book." included. Some of the bans seem nonsensical, while others reflect a barely concealed desire to target books that affirm LGBTQ identities or deal with racism or a history of racism. Some did. Now, pop star Pink (aka P!nk) is using her megawatt star power to challenge such censorship and champion the voices behind these books. Pink announced that she would team up with PEN America to donate 2,000 banned books at a concert in Florida.
Pink played at Miami and Sunrise Florida last week. Her team had planned to distribute titles such as Amanda Gorman's ``The Hill We Climb'' and Reshma Saujani's ``Girls Who Code.'' Pink, who proudly calls herself a longtime reader, condemns the book banning in an Instagram video: "It's confusing, it's annoying, it's censorship." She admitted that the fact that she is the mother of a child affects her. A view on the importance of “representation of all racial and sexual identities.”
"Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools," Pink said in a statement. "It's especially abhorrent that authorities are targeting not only LGBTQ writers and writers of colour but also books about race and racism. We've made great strides toward equality in this country. But no one wants to see that progress reversed. That's why I support PEN America's efforts and agree with their commitment to end banned books." Pink gave away literature. Not only that, but he continues to fight against banned books. To find out how you can help, visit https://pen.org/pink-against-book-bans.