Controversy over Amanda Gorman's Poem in Florida Schools and Miami's Censorship

American poet Amanda Gorman criticized a Miami-Dade school district for restricting access to her poem "The Hill We Climb" after a parent complained. The parent alleged that the material is "not educational" and has indirect hate messages. Gorman expressed her disappointment on Twitter and cited the American Literature Association’s study that reported 40 percent more books were challenged in 2022 than the year before. Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit against ECPS over their decision to ban several books, claiming it is a violation of First Amendment rights. PEN America recently published a report that showed that nearly 1,500 books were banned in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year.