Hitmaker P!nk has teamed with free-speech advocates PEN America and will distribute banned books at her concert stops in South Florida this week.
Known for chart-topping hits such as “Raise Your Glass,” “Get the Party Started” and “So What,” P!nk kicks off the Florida leg of her current tour in Miami’s Kaseya Center on Tuesday and Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.
At these two South Florida stops, the singer announced Monday, 2,000 copies of four books that have been banned by various public schools will be given away in partnership with PEN America and Books & Books, a bookseller founded in 1982 by Miami Beach native Mitchell Kaplan.
“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,” P!nk said in the announcement.
Book banning has resurfaced as a hot-button issue in political and educational circles, with the practice rising dramatically in recent times.
PEN America says it has seen a 33% spike in book bans across the United States, and Florida now ranks first in the nation, with its bans accounting for more than 40% of the nation’s total. Florida overtook Texas during the past school year after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature implemented new legislation and policies about which topics could be taught and discussed in public schools.
Government officials particularly zeroed in on LGBTQ issues and anything they deemed to be part of critical race theory, a collection of ideas that considers racial bias to be inherent in many institutional aspects of society.
The four books to be distributed in South Florida have appeared on PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans. They are:
American poet Amanda Gorman reads “The Hill We Climb” during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20, 2021. (Patrick Semansky/AFP via Getty Images)PEN International — the acronym standing for Poets, Essayists and Novelists — was founded in London in 1921, with the American branch established the following year. The organization has a long history of fighting censorship and book bans. In 1933, as the Nazis rose to power, the German branch was expelled from the organization.
“We are thrilled to be working with P!nk on this important cause,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read Program. “Every child deserves access to literature that reflects their lives. Rampant censorship is depriving kids of the chance to see themselves in books and learn about the world and its history.”
In her statement, P!nk said the increased number of book bans was a step backward for the nation.
“It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of color,” she said. “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.”
P!nk will be at Miami’s Kaseya Center, 601 Biscayne Blvd, on Tuesday and Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena, 1 Panther Parkway, on Wednesday. Both concerts are set to start at 7:30 p.m. Prices vary by location. Go to Ticketmaster.com.
