OAN’s Brooke Mallory
11:24 AM – Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Pink, in collaboration with the advocacy group PEN America, will be reportedly giving out 2,000 banned books at her gigs this week in South Florida.
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Attendees of the singer-songwriter’s “Trustfall Tour” in Miami and Sunrise, Florida, on Tuesday and Wednesday will receive a copy of some of the works that have been included on “PEN America’s Index of Banned Books.”
“I’m a voracious reader, and I’m a mom of two kids who are also voracious readers,” Pink said during a livestream on Sunday. “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.”
Copies of “The Family Book” by Todd Parr, “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman, “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, or a book from the nonprofit organization “Girls Who Code” series will be given to fans.
The singer asserted that she wanted to draw attention to the growing number of book bans in Florida, so she joined PEN America and her neighborhood bookstore, Books & Books, to hand out the items.
“It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of color. We have made so many strides toward equality in this country and no one should want to see this progress reversed,” Pink said in a statement.
The CEO of PEN America, Suzanne Nossel, expressed how she was grateful that the performer wished to join their cause.
“This is a wave that is taking over our country, our schools, our libraries. [They] are going after books about children of color, stories of LGBTQ families, books about babies, about animals,” Nossel said. “This is censorship in its purest form. It is meant to suppress narratives that we need here as a pluralistic society and so we have to push back.”
According to PEN America’s research, Florida accounted for the greatest number of book ban cases—more than 1,400—and the greatest number of school districts—33—that removed books during the previous academic year.
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