Some artists like to give away t-shirts and light-up bracelets to fans who attend their concerts. Pink has something else in mind for her 2023 Trustfall Tour.
The “So What” singer recently announced she will be giving away a total of 2,000 banned books at her Nov. 14 and 15 concerts in Florida to protest the book ban crisis affecting public schools and libraries 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,” Pink said in a statement.
To pull this off, the three-time Grammy winner is teaming up with PEN America, a nonprofit that promotes free expression in literature. She has chosen to distribute four books that have appeared in the organization’s Index of Banned Books: “The Family Book,” by Todd Parr, “The Hill We Climb,” by Amanda Gorman, “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison and a book from the “Girls Who Code” series by Reshma Saujani.
Parr’s “The Family Book” was first banned from schools in Erie, Illinois, after parents accused the author of pushing “a homosexual agenda” by including the line, “Some families have two moms and two dads.” And earlier this year, Gorman shared a photo of one parents’ request to have “The Hill We Climb” – which openly addresses the theme of racial justice – removed from schools in Miami Lakes, Florida. On the form, the parent mistakenly listed the book’s author as Oprah Winfrey and claimed Gorman’s book “causes confusion” and “indoctrinates students.”
“It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of color,” Pink 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.”
Florida was the obvious choice for Pink because it is where 40 percent of all book bans in the U.S. occur. Across 33 school districts, PEN America recorded 1,406 book ban cases in Florida, followed by 625 bans in Texas. The organization also found that roughly 30 percent of all banned books include themes of race and sexuality.
Pink, who has two children of her own, has long been vocal about her wishes to raise them without pressure to conform to white, heterosexual norms. In an interview with U.K. paper The Sunday People, the singer recalled a time in which her young daughter told her she wanted to marry an African woman one day, to which she simply responded, “Great. Can you teach me how to make African food?”
“We are thrilled to be working with Pink on this important cause,” Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read Program, said in a statement. “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.”
Fans can go to pen.org/pink to find out more about how they can fight book bans.
