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Pink hits back at DeSantis book bans by giving away books at Florida concerts [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2023-11-18
Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida has become the center of book-banning in the United States, overtaking Texas, the former leading state in that category. Pop star Pink is using her Florida concert dates to fight that.
Pink teamed up with anti-censorship nonprofit PEN America to distribute thousands of copies of banned-in-Florida books at her shows in Miami and Sunrise this week. The 2,000 books in the giveaway include “The Family Book” by children’s author Todd Parr; “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman, who became a favorite right-wing target after her poetry reading at the Biden-Harris inauguration; “Beloved” by Toni Morrison; and a book from Girls Who Code. The first three books appear on PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans, while the last was temporarily banned in a Pennsylvania school district.
“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 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. This is why I am supporting PEN America in its work and why I agree with them: no more banned books.”
Pink promoted the book giveaways—and took on the haters—in a steady stream of tweets:
x Hahahaha MAGA cult is mad tonight y’all. Their panties are in quite a bunch 😂 they really dislike being challenged and get even angrier when they can’t silence you. Oh well READ BANNED BOOKS! — P!nk (@Pink) November 15, 2023
x Hey there! Sorry I was performing to a sold out room of happy fun people,
Did I miss anything positive? 😂 just kidding, gotta run!
LOVE YOU MIAMI!!!! Enjoy your books! — P!nk (@Pink) November 15, 2023
x Since @penamerica started tracking book bans in 2021, each of these titles have been removed at least once in a public school district; you can find their reporting at
https://t.co/KGikoSMUPr. Many of these books are also being challenged and removed in public libraries:… — P!nk (@Pink) November 15, 2023
After critics accused her of sharing a debunked list of banned books, she brought receipts. And on Wednesday night, she signed off with a gleeful note:
x I wish I could continue cause y’all, I’m just getting started, but I gotta read my kids a bedtime story about how it’s OKAY THAT SOME FAMILIES HAVE TWO DADS — P!nk (@Pink) November 15, 2023
It’s really fun when someone who won’t back down or be intimidated offers a reminder of how badly—and why—Republicans are losing the culture wars they’re trying to start.
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