From the outset, Black bookstores have been centers of not only cultural exchange and knowledge but also protest and liberation. When David Ruggles opened what is recognized as the first Black bookstore, in 1834, at 67 Lispenard Street in Lower Manhattan, he used his inventory of books, pamphlets and stationery — as well as the in-house print shop — to advance the abolitionist movement. A year later, D. Ruggles Books was destroyed in a fire that was most likely caused by arson.
Katie Mitchell draws on this long tradition of Black renaissance emerging from Black resistance in PROSE TO THE PEOPLE (Clarkson Potter, $26.99), a historical guidebook and cultural anthology told through a resplendent tapestry of images, artifacts, poetry, interviews and essays showcasing the resilience of the Black community through the lens of one of its most enduring institutions.
Mitchell spent two years traveling the country to collect photos and testimonials from individual establishments and their patrons — the Black bookstore being defined as not only Black-owned, but specializing in publications by Black authors. The result is both a collage and an encyclopedia of Black art and Black pride, a timeline of activism, a reading list and even a soundtrack to accompany it all.
Mitchell’s greatest achievement is not beckoning readers to visit these disparate spaces; it is her ability to unite them across time and geography in a collective purpose that goes beyond a love of books. This archive of intellectual access and achievement illustrates an innate understanding of what the beloved Harlem bookseller Lewis Michaux proselytized: “Black is beautiful, but knowledge is power.”
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