[ [link removed] ]We're delivering a petition this Saturday demanding that Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis stop banning books! Add your name.

Dear MoveOn member,

The MoveOn Banned Bookmobile is heading to Florida's capital on Saturday
for the final stop of this tour. Thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida
has been ground zero for book bans. That's why MoveOn members are rallying
in Tallahassee to send a message to DeSantis: We reject your book bans!
Will you add your support to make sure he hears us loud and clear?

Just this week, another book was challenged in a Florida school. For no
clear reason, this time it was "Arthur’s Birthday" from the popular
children’s series by Marc Brown about a friendly, furry, illustrated
aardvark.^1 Pretty soon, bookshelves across the country will be just as
empty as some of the ones in Florida (and as empty as DeSantis's campaign
account), as Republicans share their banned-book playbook from state to
state.^2,3,4
 
[ [link removed] ]We'll be delivering the petition to DeSantis Saturday from our Banned
Bookmobile in his home state. BUT, we need more signatures! We know we are
the majority, and now is our chance to prove it! Add your name to the
petition calling on DeSantis and other right-wing elected officials to
stop banning books!

Together, we'll make sure that DeSantis’s authoritarian and Orwellian book
bans are a losing strategy! Sign the petition to reject Republican
attempts to ban books from libraries and schools, censor what parents can
allow children to read, and punish teachers and librarians.

[3]Sign the petition

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

If DeSantis hoped his extreme stance on book bans would win over his
far-right base and give him an edge on the presidential campaign trail
ahead of 2024, it seriously backfired.^5 His pathetic and flailing
presidential campaign reveals how drastically he miscalculated the
people-powered movement that was ready to fight back against attempts to
ban books, silence diverse voices, and erase history.^6

Former President Barack Obama recently spoke out against the threats posed
by the wave of book bans sweeping the country. “If America—a nation built
on freedom of expression—allows certain voices to be silenced, why should
other countries go out of their way to protect them?” he wrote.^7

Obama called book bans "profoundly misguided."^8 We call them profoundly
corrupt, unconstitutional, and dangerously authoritarian. But no matter
what you call them, book bans are on the wrong side of history. 

MoveOn's Banned Bookmobile has been stopping in cities and states most
impacted by Republican censorship and talking to voters about book bans
and MAGA Republican threats to our democracy and freedom ahead of the 2024
election. We've heard from countless teachers, librarians, and parents—the
people at the front lines of this fight—how important it is to resist
these book bans and attacks on our freedoms. Together, we can make sure
that DeSantis's unpopular attempts to curtail our freedom to read don’t
just follow him and other MAGA candidates along the presidential campaign
trail but kick them right off of it.  

[ [link removed] ]Add your name to the petition NOW, and we'll deliver it directly to
DeSantis to tell him to keep his hands and laws off of our books!

Thanks for all you do.

–Aliya, Madeleine, Mona, Kelsey, and the rest of the team 

Sources:

1. "Right-wing activists seek to ban 'Arthur's Birthday' from Florida
school libraries," Popular Information, July 20, 2023
[link removed]

2. "A Fast-Growing Network of Conservative Groups Is Fueling a Surge in
Book Bans," The New York Times, January 10, 2023
[link removed]

3. "First person: The book bans leaving Florida school bookshelves empty,"
WBUR, March 3, 2023
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

4. "Ron DeSantis campaign fires staffers after fundraising shows high
spending rate,"CBS News, July 17, 2023
[link removed]

5. "Republican 2024 hopeful Ron DeSantis is ‘blazing a trail’ on school
book bans," PBS, May 26, 2023
[link removed]

6. "Ron DeSantis’ Dumb, Failed Strategy to Campaign on Culture War
Bullshit," The Daily Beast, July 9, 2023
[link removed]

7. Tweet by Barack Obama, July 17, 2023
[link removed]

8. Ibid.

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you.
It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online
petitions. You can [ [link removed] ]start your own petition here.



Want to support MoveOn's work? Book bans have skyrocketed thanks to
right-wing state laws which have forced teachers to remove books from
their classrooms. In response, MoveOn is launching a "Banned Bookmobile,"
filling it with books that the far right has banned, and driving it around
to hand out those books, for free, in highly trafficked areas that will
attract media attention. To keep the Banned Bookmobile up and running into
2024, we need your help.

Will you start a monthly gift to power our critical work? 



[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------

PAID FOR BY MOVEON POLITICAL ACTION, [ [link removed] ][link removed]?.
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. MoveOn Political
Action - PO Box 96142, Washington, D.C. 20090-6142.



You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]