Support Black-owned businesses: Bookstores
Happy BLACK Friday!
Each Friday for the rest of the year, we’ll be featuring Black-owned businesses to support this holiday season. Today, we’re centering books written by people of color that you can order from Black-owned bookstores from across the U.S. We always recommend supporting a local business near you before using this list, so these are just suggestions! Read why supporting Black-owned businesses is so critical, especially with the economic challenges we're experiencing. Key takeaways in today's newsletter reference some of these stats.
This list is designed around the recommendations we centered in last week’s newsletter on diversifying your bookshelf. Let me know if you get one of these book!
Thank you to everyone that makes this newsletter possible! Support our work by making a one-time contribution on our website or PayPal, or giving monthly on Patreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). To subscribe, go to antiracismdaily.com. You can share this newsletter and unlock some fun rewards by signing up here. I'm grateful for each one of you that's with me on this journey.
Nicole
TAKE ACTION
Commit to buying one gift this holiday season (for yourself or others) from a Black-owned business
Identify something you're looking to purchase before the end of the year, and search for three Black-owned alternatives
GET EDUCATED
By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)
Matter
Denver, CO
Find books, stationery, home goods and other curated gifts from independent, Black & woman-owned retail space for designers, activists & other thinking persons.
Elatsoe
Darcie Little Badger
$19
Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family. Illustrated by Rovina Cai.
SHOP >
Last Stop on Market Street
Matt de la Peña
$19 "This energetic ride through a bustling city highlights the wonderful perspective only grandparent and grandchild can share, and comes to life through Matt de la Peña’s vibrant text and Christian Robinson’s radiant illustrations.
SHOP >
Elizabeth's Bookshop & Writing Centre
Denver, CO
Elizabeth's Bookshop & Writing Centre is an innovative literacy center based in Akron, OH. Their catalog highlights the work of writers who are often excluded from traditional cultural, social and academic canons. This was created by Rachel Cargle, a renowned academic and educator whose work we feature frequently in this newsletter. A percentage of all sales go to The Loveland Foundation to support their mission of making mental healthcare accessible for Black women and girls.
Here The Whole Time
Vitor Martins
$17.47
"The charm and humor of To All the Boys I've Loved Before meets Dumplin' in this body-positive YA love story between two boys who must spend 15 days living with each other over school break."
SHOP >
With the Fire on High
Elizabeth Acevedo
$17
"Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago's life has been about making the tough decisions--doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness."
SHOP >
People Get Ready
New Haven, CT
People Get Ready is a neighborhood bookspace that is grounded in respect for the dignity of all beings, the importance of reciprocal relations, and the transformative power of radical love.
King and the Dragonflies
Kacen Callender
$18 "In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself."
SHOP >
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett
$27
"From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white."
SHOP >
Black Garnet Books
Twin Cities, MN
Black Garnet Books is a Black, woman-owned bookstore located in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, primarily stocking Adult and YA contemporary literature by Black and racially-diverse authors.
Transcendent Kingdom [Audiobook]
Yaa Gyasi
$28
"Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama. Narrated by Bahni Turpin."
SHOP >
Leave The World Behind
Rumaan Alam
$24.14
"A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong."
SHOP >
The Lit. Bar
Bronx, NY
“Once upon a time, a girl from the Bronx had big dreams of opening an independent bookstore/wine bar right here at home. It would be the only indie bookstore in the entire borough–home to 1.4 million people and 10 colleges and it would be called The Lit. Bar…”
God-Level Knowledge Darts: Life Lessons from the Bronx
Desus & Mero
$24
Desus Nice and The Kid Mero are multitalented comedians, writers, and podcasters who currently co-host Showtime's first-ever late-night talk show, Desus & Mero, as well as the long-running Bodega Boys podcast. Their book reflects on their life experiences.
SHOP >
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot
Mikki Kendall
$23.92
"A potent and electrifying critique of today's feminist movement announcing a fresh new voice in Black feminism."
SHOP >
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A recent report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that “the number of African-American business owners plummeted from 1.1 million in February 2020 to 640,000 in April," a 41% decrease.
Black people are twice as likely to be turned down for business loans than their White counterparts.
Although Black people account for 15% of the population, there are few Black-owned brands carried by major retailers.
RELATED ISSUES
6/11/2020 | Support black-owned businesses.
9/30/2020 | Close the racial wealth gap.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
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