MIAMI – Pop star P!nk is “raising her glass” and will give away 2,000 banned books at her South Florida concerts.
The singer is teaming with PEN America, a literary and free expression advocacy group, to draw attention to the book banning crisis across the country.
“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.
According to PEN America, more than 3,300 books were banned during the 2022-23 school year, with Florida banning more than 1,400.
Among them “The Hill We Climb” written by Amanda Gorman, the National Youth Poet Laureate, which was delivered at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. It was put on a restricted list in Miami-Dade County after a parent complained.
“They’re going after books about children of color stories of LGBTQ families,” said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America.
The restriction was made possible by the expanded parental rights in education law championed by Governor Ron DeSantis.
It allows any parent or community member to requests the removal of school library books until a review is completed.
Pink has performances scheduled at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday and the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Wednesday.