Dear MoveOn member,
A Florida school has banned "The Hill We Climb," the powerful poem that Amanda Gorman recited at President Joe Biden's inauguration, saying it would now be off-limits to young readers after one parent claimed the poem was "indoctrinating" students.1
The school, which claimed the poem is "not educational," at the same time also banned "The ABCs of Black History," a book intended for readers ages 5 and older.2
In response, Gorman, the first national youth poet laureate, described feeling "gutted," explained that she had written the poem "so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment," and said, "We must fight back."3
John, we have just the way to fight back: With Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially in the race for president, MoveOn is launching a "Banned Bookmobile," filling it with books that DeSantis has banned from schools in Florida, and driving it around the state to hand out those books, for free, in highly trafficked areas that will attract media attention. We're able to green light the Banned Bookmobile thanks to the generosity of MoveOn members. That's the power of collective action!
If we can raise enough funds, we'll take the Banned Bookmobile on tour around the country for months, following DeSantis to his campaign stops across the country, giving out banned books, hosting events with authors and advocates, and making sure the press covers it as much as possible.
But we need your help to do it, John. We have enough funds to get started, but if we want to keep the Banned Bookmobile up and running into 2024, we will need consistent resources from MoveOn members. Will you start a $5 monthly gift today to help us keep buying as many copies of DeSantis's banned books as we can, giving them away for free, and hammering DeSantis and the GOP with bad press for as long as it takes?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Book bans have increased by more than 1,000% since 2020, thanks to right-wing state laws like the one DeSantis championed in Florida, which has forced teachers to remove books from their classrooms, or wrap their bookshelves in paper so that students can't access them, in order to avoid being charged with a felony—punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine—leaving bookshelves "entirely barren of books."4,5
And most book bans are targeting books written by people of color or those who are LGBTQ+.6 As Amanda Gorman explained, these books are by authors "who have struggled for generations to get on the bookshelves."7
That's where our Banned Bookmobile comes in.
Without further ado, here are the first 10 books we are adding to the Banned Bookmobile! All of these books are banned in Florida, and five were among the top 10 most banned books nationwide in 2022:
"Gender Queer: A Memoir," a graphic novel about nonbinary author Maia Kobabe's journey toward self-discovery, was the most banned book across the United States in 2022 and has received the most challenges of any book in 2023 as well.8,9
We want to make sure that as many people as possible—especially young people—have the chance to read these books, and that we spread the word far and wide that DeSantis and the Republican Party are supporting book bans and censorship, on top of their other dangerous and extreme policies including abortion bans, voter suppression laws, attacks on the poor, and more.
Will you help out by starting a $5 monthly donation today?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–David, Elsie, Oscar, Nakia, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "1 complaint led a Florida school to restrict access to Amanda Gorman's famous poem," NPR, May 25, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/173156?t=6&akid=353399%2E40999114%2Enl9IWA
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. "Censorship by the Numbers," American Library Association, accessed May 25, 2023,
https://act.moveon.org/go/173157?t=8&akid=353399%2E40999114%2Enl9IWA
5. "Hide your books to avoid felony charges, Fla. schools tell teachers," The Washington Post, January 31, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/170389?t=10&akid=353399%2E40999114%2Enl9IWA
6. "Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022," American Library Association, April 21, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/173155?t=12&akid=353399%2E40999114%2Enl9IWA
7. "1 complaint led a Florida school to restrict access to Amanda Gorman's famous poem," NPR, May 25, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/173156?t=14&akid=353399%2E40999114%2Enl9IWA
8. "Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022," American Library Association, April 21, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/173155?t=16&akid=353399%2E40999114%2Enl9IWA
9. "Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools," PEN America, April 20, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/173141?t=18&akid=353399%2E40999114%2Enl9IWA
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Will you chip in monthly to power our critical work?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
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