Shaqueal Adkins has always loved books. She’s collected them for herself, donated them to incarcerated women, sold them to the public and has just generally spread the gospel of literature to anyone who’ll listen in her community.
Now, she’s about to take a leap of faith.
Born and raised in Watts, this self-proclaimed “book slinger” and “hood librarian” plans to open her first brick-and-mortar book shop in her neighborhood this summer.
Our Watts Bookshop currently lives online — and on Instagram — but it's her dream to create a space for people not just to buy books but to enjoy everything about them.
“I’m very community-based. I just feel like bringing literacy back to the ‘hood,” Adkins said. “We shouldn’t have to leave our location to go to freakin’ bookstores. We have to create our own spaces.”
Adkins envisions her bookstore being a warm place that people will find familiar. She wants it to be accessible to people; a gathering space — kinda like home. “I want people from our city on the wall,” Adkins said. “I want FloJo on the wall. I want you to come in and I want you to be like ‘oh shit. That’s D’Angelo playing?’ I want my kids to be running up through there too. I want a den-like situation like Moesha. We can do that.”
Since 2019, several Black women have founded literary spaces in Los Angeles that hold more than just books; they offer places where people can gather and find community. There’s Salt Eaters in Inglewood, Reparations Club near West Adams, the Radical Hood Library — home to the Noname Book Club — near Jefferson Park. Last month Octavia’s Bookshelf opened in Pasadena, named for beloved science fiction author Octavia Butler.
These spaces let you know exactly what they are. As soon as you step into Reparations Club or Salt Eaters, for example, you see altars of Black maternal figures from the owners’ lives as well as books and art that shine a light on Black culture.
“The intention was to have a space that centers on Black people in L.A.: Black stories, Black narratives, that is a start," said Jazzi McGilbert, founder of Reparations Club. “I think a lot of other places are made with other intentions that don’t align with the community. It’s more business first. Our goal is to be people first. We think of ourselves as the neighbors over here.”
Many of these spaces have opened up during a time of social tension and civil unrest over the murder of George Floyd Jr., Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others. Angelenos from all backgrounds wanted to delve into Black literature after the racial reckoning that occurred, and support Black-owned businesses.
These spaces fill a void, too: L.A. recently lost one of its most popular bookstores that spotlighted Black authors and hosted several events, most notably an interview with former president Barack Obama. Eso Won in Leimert Park closed its doors late last year, after the founders retired. Eso Won continues to sell online but the gathering space is gone.
“My childhood, my understanding of Black literature, like in L.A., starts in Eso Won Books,” Salt Eaters founder Asha Grant said. “I think that they served as a huge catalyst and inspiration for a lot of us to even feel like we could do something like this in our own neighborhoods. That spirit of Black entrepreneurship and dedication to Black literature has not died. It's only evolved more or like sort of expanded, which I think is a beautiful thing.”
For Fatimah Warner, the founder of the Radical Hood Library, she believes that there needs to be some type of infrastructure in communities that is sustainable.
“[Eso Won] was literally a historic Black staple to Los Angeles as a Black bookstore,” Warner said. “Those spaces carry so much of a legacy to still continue even if the owners necessarily can’t do it themselves. I think the more, the merrier. I still think we need as many Black spaces as we can get."
The first documented Black-owned bookstore was established by abolitionist David Ruggles in 1834. According to Joshua Clark Davis, an associate professor of U.S. history at the University of Baltimore, Black-owned bookstores gained prominence in the 1960s and 70s because of their ability to offer a radical political space in Black communities during the Black Power Movement. The oldest standing Black-owned bookstore in the country is Marcus Books in Oakland, which started up in 1960.
There was a boom in the number of independent booksellers during this period but they soon came under the focus of the FBI, which was trying to root out what then-director J. Edgar Hoover considered to be “extremists” in the Black Power Movement. Davis wrote in The Atlantic that Hoover wanted his agents to try and persuade Black citizens to spy on these places.
The number of Black-owned bookstores fell in the 1970s, increased again in the 90s, only to fall again from 2000 to 2010. According to the African American Literature Book Club, there are an estimated 150 Black-owned bookstores in the U.S., which represents about 6% of all independent booksellers nationwide. About 16 of them are located across California.
These new spaces in Los Angeles are part of a resurgence of Black-run literary spaces. But there’s something that makes these smaller women-owned spaces unique — all of the women involved have intentionally created safe community spaces for Black people in L.A.
“I think that especially in a city like L.A., which I don't think represents Black women in the ways we need very specifically, I think that we have done just what Black women do period, which is create the spaces that we need for ourselves,” Grant said.
Before founding Salt Eaters, Grant ran the L.A. chapter of the Free Black Women’s Library.
Walk into many of these places and you are likely to see a dedication to the women in the owners’ lives.
For instance, at Reparations Club there’s a mirror with pictures of Jazzi McGilbert’s mother and her family pinned to it. McGilbert said her late mother inspired her to start the bookstore.
Similarly, as soon as you step into Salt Eaters in Inglewood, you automatically feel at home. One of the first items you see is an altar honoring owner Asha Grant’s grandmother, the first person to take her to get her a library card.
Grant said that her grandmother was the person who read her chapter books at night. “She was a huge influence on almost everything that I am today,” Grant said. “I would not have Salt Eaters without her.”
At Salt Eaters, there’s R&B softly playing in the background, a quilt, a church pew and a stack of Ebony and Jet magazines on a table. On one wall, you’ll see a huge painting of Latasha Harlins, the teenager who was fatally shot in 1991 in a convenience store by the Korean-American owner. That incident — and the light sentence that followed — helped spur the 1992 L.A. Uprisings. On another wall there’s a huge tapestry of resident badass, blaxploitation actress Pam Grier.
“I think there's a certain level of un-apologeticness that the tapestry offers,” Grant said. “I think that there's space for us to, you know, have a church pew and also have a Black woman who’s armed at the front of the store. It feels like she's like our security.”
At Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena, owner Nikki High said she wants her shop to be a safe space for curious minded people. The space is small and intimate with two bookshelves, plants and tables that are full of books. There’s a quote by Lucille Clifton on the wall.
I want young Black kids and adults to come in here and feel represented every single day, not just during Black History Month. Like they can come in here and they know that they're gonna find their next favorite book.
At Radical Hood Library, founded by Chicago rapper Fatimah Warner, known to many as Noname, everyone has a piece of ownership in the space; it is a worker’s cooperative.
“I’m a musician, and I do a bunch of other shit,” Warner said, "And I knew I was never going to be in a place where I could fully commit myself. I didn’t want to see the library closed because I’m removed from the program or I no longer want to do it.”
Inside, there’s a theme around global Black solidarity.
“When you get further into the space and you’re actually looking at titles you’re like, oh this is very leftist and very Black,” Warner said. “These aren't subject matters that people typically want to read about, but all of a sudden, there's all this interest and there's so many writers writing about abolition. I think we're living in chaotic times and people are searching for answers,” Warner said.
There’s a portrait of a mom holding a baby and a rifle right behind her.
There’s a section for kids called the Little Homie section.
It’s a radical, socialist and queer space where employees and community members have discussions about abolition, colonialism, imperialism and mass incarceration. There are pictures of rebellions and artwork from incarcerated people. The library gives books to people inside of prisons. Everyone has a sense of ownership in the space. There are mutual aid days. They have a Patreon where people can get exclusive access to events.
“We want people to feel like they are invested in the space,” said Natalie Matos, the project manager for Radical Hood Library.
“I think a lot of times Black women see a need and then we just respond to it,” Warner added. “I think, you know, all of us who have our different spaces, were from different backgrounds, different communities. I'm from Chicago, but I think ultimately, like, we want to see black people free in whatever ways possible. We need space where we can gather and have the necessary community conversations. So I can't speak for everybody why they started theirs but I do feel like, at the core of us, we know we need a space.”
What you'll find: LGBTQ authors, Young Adult, romance titles, Black art books, incense, cookbooks and books on film. It's also a space for birthday parties, game nights, rent parties, karaoke parties and conversation circles.
What you'll find: The store is an homage to award-winning sci-fi writer Octavia Butler. Nikki High says she plans to host author signings, readings, children’s story hours and more.
Founder: Asha Grant
302 E. Queen St., Inglewood, CA 90301
What you'll find: Poetry talks, Black queer speed dating and meditation sessions. Events are posted on Instagram. Salt Eaters also hosts rent parties to keep the Black feminist bookshop alive.
Founder: Shaqueal Adkins
Online and pop-up locations; info at Ourwattsbookshop.com
What you'll find: Adkins has had pop up shops in Watts, more frequently in 2022. She said she tries to remain local and affordable. They are donation-based sales and typically take place on the weekends before 2 p.m.
Founder: Fatimah Nyeema Warner
2304 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
What you'll find: Film screenings, open mics for Black History Month, poetry nights, teachings, packing books for incarcerated people and letter-writing days. One of their big events of the year is a Black radical book fair this summer for Black August.
