Phil Bildner

Those who seek to restrict access to books — to ban books — have never been on the right side of history. Never. Bad people ban books.

July 24th is the anniversary of my coming out as gay. Each year, I commemorate the occasion, and last year, the date had particular meaning, so I wrote a post about it. If you have a few minutes, I hope you'll take the time to read and perhaps share it. theauthorvillage.com/phil-bildner...

Empathy is not a trait of weakness, despite what he and his followers believe.

Superintendent CJ Cammack, this is your response? Cowardice revisionism. How dare you fail to respect the humanity of @joannahowrites.bsky.social and @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social. More importantly, how dare you fail to respect the humanity of all the students and families in your community.

Censored in California Authors @joannahowrites.bsky.social and @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social have issued a statement in response to the book banning and censorship situation that took place at Country Club Elementary School in San Ramon, California. Please take a moment to read their words.

Why did @joannahowrites.bsky.social and @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social have their author visit for their book THE DAY THE BOOKS DISAPPEARED (illus. by @dansantat.bsky.social) cancelled minutes before the school assembly was supposed to begin? bookriot.com/the-day-the-...

This morning, a New York City friend let me know that after voting for Cuomo in the primary, he voted for Mamdani in the general. When I asked him what made him change his mind, he told me the Adams endorsement. And he let me know he had other friends who felt the same way. Let’s go Zohran!

This week, @glamour.com announced its Women of the Year. Ms. Rachel is part of the class of 2025. If you're not familiar with her efforts and activism, please consider taking a few moments to learn about the extraordinary work she's doing. www.glamour.com/story/ms-rac...

Lately, I’ve been seeing posts about how school cellphone bans have resulted in more students using their school libraries and checking out more books. This is wonderful! But remember, many schools no longer have schools libraries or school librarians. Book access saves lives. Books save lives.

Young people see how he acts and hear what he says and think it’s fine, acceptable, normal. Young people see how his followers act and hear what his followers say and think it’s fine, acceptable, normal. It’s not. It’s not fine. It’s not acceptable. It’s not normal. This is not normal.

He shut down the government. He wrecking balled the White House He shit on peaceful demonstrators. Kids are watching this. Kids are absorbing this. If you're still silent in this moment, you have picked a side. if you're still sitting this one out, you have picked a side. This is existential.

Stay engaged. If you participated in the No Kings demonstrations, commit to doing more. Find another act or two of resistance to participate in this next month. Show up. Again. There are so many more of us. Commit to getting those who've been sitting this out off the sidelines. Stay engaged.

We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized. We cannot allow ourselves to grow numb. He and his followers are calling us un-Amerocan. He and his followers are demonizing dissent. This is what authoritarianism looks like. This is what fascism looks like. Resist this regime. No Kings.