Images from the novel AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the memoir BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates live vividly in my mind, though I read them years ago. Both deepened my awareness of racism, not just the news-making kind, but everyday, baked-into-the system, corrosive bias. Adichie and Coates widened my world view and deepened my heart.
The “suggested reading” lists of these black-owned bookstores offer additional suggestions to open our minds and make us better humans. The bookshops include: Ashay by the Bay a Black children’s bookstore in Vallejo, CA, Beyond Barcodes Bookstore offering books, coffee, community in Kokomo, IN, The Black Reserve Bookstore in Lansdale, PA, Brain Lair Books offering ‘difficult conversations in a fun place‘ in South Bend, IN, Cafe con Libros an intersectional feminist community bookstore and coffee shop in Brooklyn, New York, NY, Enda’s Booktique offering books written by, for, and about women in Duncanville, TX, Eyeseeme African American Children’s Bookstore committed to increasing childhood literacy and promoting multicultural literature in University City, MO, Frugal Bookstore ‘changing minds one book at a time‘ in Roxbury, MA, Harriett’s Bookshop ‘celebrating women authors, artists, and activists‘ in Philadelphia, PA, The Lit. Bar the only bookstore currently serving the Bronx, NY, Loyalty Bookstore centering on Black, PoC, and Queer voices in Washington, D.C. & Silver Spring, MD, MahoganyBooks an award-winning bookstore ‘that sells books for, by, and about people of the African Diaspora‘ in Washington, D.C., Marcus Books the oldest independent Black bookstore in the country, in Oakland, CA, Mocha Books ‘creating a path to visibility for BIPOC indie writers,’ in Tulsa, OK, and Turning Page Bookshop ‘spreading love for good books and giving back to the community‘ in Goose Creek, SC. Check them out!
