Hitmaker P!nk has teamed with free-speech advocates PEN America and will distribute banned books at her first couple of concert stops in Florida this week.
P!nk, known for chart-topping hits such as “Raise Your Glass,” “Get This Party Started” and “So What,” kicks off the Florida leg of her current tour in Miami on Tuesday, with a performance in Sunrise on Wednesday before arriving in Orlando for a pair of concerts Saturday and Sunday.
At her 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.
There are currently no plans to give books away at P!nk’s Orlando shows.
“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 what 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 each have appeared on PEN America’s Index of Banned Books. They are Todd Parr’s “The Family Book,” a book for young children that celebrates different types of families, including those with step-parents and those with two same-gender parents; Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb,” the Black writer’s spoken-word poem performed at President Joe Biden’s inauguration; Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer prize-winning “Beloved,” which in part explores the lasting trauma of slavery; and a book from Reshma Saujani’s “Girls Who Code” series, which aims to encourage girls to consider careers in technology.
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, in making the announcement. “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.”
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more arts news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/arts, and go to orlandosentinel.com/theater for theater news and reviews.
