5 Things Bookstores Can Do

Last year the American Booksellers Association hosted an Anti-Racism seminar for booksellers, Ally? Accomplice? Co-Conspirator?! An Antiracism Seminar about Doing the Work with W. Kamau Bell and Kate Schatz.

One of the results of that workshop was a collaborative list of actions booksellers were doing or could take to "Resist, Dismantle, Address, Challenge, Upend, Subvert, and Eliminate White Supremacy and All Forms of Oppression." As we come into a new year and renew our commitment to anti-racist work, here are some of the things that were included on the list:

1. Host a marathon reading of banned books to draw attention to current book-banning 
2. Honor indigenous communities by: displaying a sign w/ an indigenous land acknowledgment; featuring books by local indigenous authors; interviewing with local Indigenous peoples about their culture, lifestyle, and people and offer an opportunity to be honored in your store; paying a land tax to local tribes (Lee Francis from Red Planet Books + Comic, Albuquerque, NM)
3. “Curation is not censorship”—it’s OK to choose to not carry/display/promote certain books; there are also lots of ideas in our Antiracist Action Plan! (Candice Huber from Tubby + Coo’s, New Orleans, LA)
4. Create table displays that honor marginalized voices ALL year, not just during their “month” (Morgan from Greenlight Books, Brooklyn, NY)
5. Encourage booksellers to decolonize their own reading—what does your TBR look like? Who’s on it, and who’s not on it?