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 clear message to DeSantis: We reject your book bans!

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
 
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.

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.  

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
https://act.moveon.org/go/179257?t=7&akid=357666%2E40999114%2EUUmXgr

2. "A Fast-Growing Network of Conservative Groups Is Fueling a Surge in Book Bans," The New York Times, January 10, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/179258?t=9&akid=357666%2E40999114%2EUUmXgr

3. "First person: The book bans leaving Florida school bookshelves empty," WBUR, March 3, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/173309?t=11&akid=357666%2E40999114%2EUUmXgr

4. "Ron DeSantis campaign fires staffers after fundraising shows high spending rate,"CBS News, July 17, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/179259?t=13&akid=357666%2E40999114%2EUUmXgr

5. "Republican 2024 hopeful Ron DeSantis is ‘blazing a trail’ on school book bans," PBS, May 26, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/179260?t=15&akid=357666%2E40999114%2EUUmXgr

6. "Ron DeSantis’ Dumb, Failed Strategy to Campaign on Culture War Bullshit," The Daily Beast, July 9, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/179261?t=17&akid=357666%2E40999114%2EUUmXgr

7. Tweet by Barack Obama, July 17, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/179262?t=19&akid=357666%2E40999114%2EUUmXgr

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 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.

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