3 OctOber 19-25, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ FLORIDA FREADOM TECH TYCOON PAUL ENGLISH LAUNCHES BANNED BOOKS GIVEAWAY FOR FLORIDIANS. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN W ith Florida taking the throne as the nation’s book-ban- ning leader, the cofounder of the Kayak travel search engine and a Bos- ton-based activist have teamed up to buck schoolhouse censorship by dis- tributing banned books in the Sunshine State in partnership with a website that supports independent booksellers. Working alongside Bookshop.org and nonprofit digital publisher Electric Literature, tech entrepreneur Paul English and activist Joyce Linehan have launched BannedBooksUSA, which will provide restricted and chal- lenged books to libraries, schools, and anyone living in Florida for just a $3.99 ship- ping charge. English says he resolved to take action af- ter observing the state’s recent surge in edu- cational censorship. “It was watching the rhetoric around con- trolling what information our citizens should get access to, what they shouldn’t get access to,” English, who donated $100,000 to the project, tells New Times. “When I saw some of the books that were being challenged spe- cifically, it just seemed insane. Like Toni Morrison, her works are really important.” Morrison’s acclaimed novel The Bluest Eye was restricted from student access in a dozen school districts in Florida this past school year, according to the nonprofit PEN America. BannedBooksUSA says ten percent of the cover price of each book delivered will di- rectly support Florida independent book- stores. For every order placed, one dollar will also be donated to the Florida Freedom to Read Project, a grassroots nonprofit created by a group of Florida public school parents dedicated to anti-censorship efforts and in- tellectual freedom. Andy Hunter, chief executive officer and founder of Bookshop.org, says the initiative will provide much-needed support for librar- ies and educational institutions and show people why these books are so valuable. “It is not hyperbole to say that I feel like books saved my life. The idea that kids aren’t going to have access to some of the books that profoundly impacted me — that those are be- ing pulled from their school libraries or that teachers may get fired for teaching a book is really scary to me,” Hunter tells New Times. “I’m concerned it will be really bad for kids, and I wanted to fight against it so kids can benefit from reading these books.” A new report from PEN America found Florida has surpassed Texas as the state with the most book removals in public school li- braries and classrooms. Forty percent of U.S. book bans occurred in the Sunshine State. More than 1,400 school book bans took place in Florida during the 2022-2023 school year, according to the report “Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor.” BannedBooksUSA will offer books based on lists compiled by PEN America, Electric Literature, and the American Library Associ- ation, tracking book removals in school dis- tricts across Florida. Purchases are limited to one book per order to any Florida address. “We want to make sure that if someone wants to read any of the other hundreds of books that have been pulled off shelves, we pro- vide a low-cost way for them to do that,” Eng- lish adds. “We noticed a lot of people fighting these bans, and we are arm-in-arm with them, trying to fight from every angle. We want to keep the issue alive in the media so regular people can read about it and say, ‘Yeah, this does sound crazy,’ and maybe make some changes.” The surge in book removals and challenges in Florida came in the wake of the passage of legislation, such as the Parental Rights in Education Act (AKA “Don’t Say Gay”) and the Stop WOKE Act as well as new laws that fa- cilitate school book challenges in the state. One woman has filed more than 100 book challenges in Escambia County Public Schools since last fall. “You hear a lot, ‘It’s not a ban. They’re not eliminating. You could still go to Barnes & Noble,’” Raegan Miller, director of development for the Flor- ida Freedom to Read Project, tells New Times. “They are removing access. That’s what we’re seeing in Florida, and so this is al- lowing access back to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to books. This gives us the opportunity to get books back in the hands of students and families so that they can be ex- posed to different types of literature.” If these bans continue, Miller says, she fears the public school curriculum will be further censored. “What happens to the electives? Are arts too woke?” she tells New Times. “Does music lead you down a path of destruction? We’ve heard all of these ridiculous things.” English says he and his partners hope to expand the initiative to other states like Texas, where book banning is rampant, and partner with local bookstores to distribute challenged books. “There needs to be more discussion, and I support anyone who is going to fight censor- ship,” he says. | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS BannedBooksUSA is launching a program to distribute banned school books in Florida. Photo by BenjaminEC/Getty Images ▼ MIAMI SPRINGS BLOOD AND HONEY HOMICIDAL WINNIE-THE-POOH MOVIE WAS SHOWN TO MIAMI SPRINGS SCHOOLCHILDREN. BY THEO KARANTSALIS C ounseling was offered to fourth-grade students after a teacher showed them a slasher flick depicting the beloved chil- dren’s book characters Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet on a murderous rampage. In Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, the once-lovable, honey-obsessed bear turns feral after his bestie Christopher Robin leaves for col- lege. Enraged by Robin’s abandonment, Pooh and Piglet develop a seething hatred for human- ity and go on a feature-length killing spree, dur- ing which they slay a group of female university students who have the misfortune of renting a cabin in the Hundred Acre Wood. As first reported by Ivan Taylor with CBS News Miami, parent Michelle Diaz said her twins were traumatized after watching the movie in class on October 2 at Academy for Innovative Education, a public charter school in Miami Springs. She told the outlet the movie continued to play even after students complained that they were not enjoying the gore. Diaz said the movie was shown for roughly 20 to 30 minutes. She told CBS she believes stu- dents selected the movie but that the teacher should have double-checked to make sure it was appropriate for children. Produced by British indie film outfit Jagged Edge Productions, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey contains graphic kill scenes in which Pooh and Piglet smash a victim’s head with a sledge- hammer, decapitate a person, and feed a lady into a woodchipper. “There’s also stabbing, face-ripping, neck- slicing, arm-snapping, whipping, eyeballs popping out, and much, much more. A woman’s breasts are visible after her top comes off while she’s being attacked,” according to Common Sense Media, an organization that provides parental guidance on age-appropriate media. The group also notes “sporadic use of ‘fuck’ and ‘shit.’” The movie’s tag line is “This Ain’t No Bedtime Story.” The characters are, of course, based on A.A. Milne’s wholesome 1926 classic, Winnie-the-Pooh, which entered the public domain in January 2022 after its copyright expired. Academy for Innovative Education’s Head of School Vera Hirsh tells New Times that “as soon as the teacher realized what was being shown, the movie was turned off.” Most of the film’s grisly murder scenes take place later in the movie, Hirsh says. “The issue has been thoroughly addressed with teachers, students, and parents. Our stu- dents are in school and doing fine, and we really did address all of the concerns,” Hirsh says. She told CBS in the aftermath of the incident that the school was “actively monitoring” its stu- dents and had a mental health counselor meet with those who were upset by the film. The Academy for Innovative Education opened in Miami Springs in 2011. Its elementary school recently ranked in the top 12 percent of Florida elementary schools based on test scores, high school preparation, and graduation metrics, according to U.S. News and World Report. “At AIE, learning is focused on active explora- tion of major concepts, ideas and theories through hands-on learning and real-life problem solving,” the school’s vision statement says. [email protected] THE MOVIE’S TAG LINE IS “THIS AIN’T NO BEDTIME STORY.”
