On a recent rainy Saturday afternoon in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, dozens and dozens of Black women were crammed inside a narrow bookstore on Malcolm X Boulevard, smiling, laughing and talking.
Tiffany Dockery’s eyes swept over the crowd as sweat beaded on her brow. She seemed a bit stunned. Just then, the door opened, and even more women arrived.
The grand opening of Gladys Books & Wine represented a real high for Ms. Dockery, 39. That it exists at all was triggered by an extreme low, when, in September 2024, she was laid off from her job at Google. “I felt like God was saying, ‘All right, at what point are you going to actually do something that you believe in?’”
Ms. Dockery, who grew up in Chicago, has lived in New York City for a decade and bought a home in Bed-Stuy four years ago. She was feeling burned out when she lost her job but had an inkling of what would be restorative: “I both love to read and I love buying books, which are similar, but not exactly the same thing.”
She decided to, as she put it, “step out on faith.” She cashed out her 401(k) and opened a bookstore and wine bar aimed specifically at Black lesbians.
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The post A Shop for Black Women Who Love Women Who Love Books appeared first on New York Times.
