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Day 16: Equitable and Liberating Forms of Bookselling
Posted By Nicki Leone, Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Updated: Saturday, February 18, 2023

Jason Reynolds"The thing about anti-racism that [...]sits at the core of who I am is that I should never have to make myself small for everyone else to feel comfortable about my existence...Self actualization is at the core of an anti-racist world." - Jason Reynolds

Author Photo Credit: nate b. | Excerpted from Words of Change: Anti-Racism by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright 2020 By Kenyra Rankin. All rights reserved.

Learn

Government and governance have both been and continue to be forces for perpetuating and exacerbating racial inequities. By governance, we mean “the processes of interaction and decision-making among actors involved in collective problem-solving that lead to the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of social norms and institutions.” Governance happens through government, and also through organizations, communities, markets and networks. 

There is a long history of formal and informal government actions and institutional governance that reinforces white supremacy at the expense of Black, Indigenous and people of color. The good news is that there has also been and continues to be efforts to reform existing structures and to create new forms of governance that support justice and sovereignty, self-determination and racial equity. Watch this 4 minute video about the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), an initiative of Race Forward and the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society. 

In addition, we are increasingly seeing new ways of making decisions in organizations and businesses through “new governance systems,” such as sociocracy and holacracy. See this example in a 3 minute video from Circle Forward.

Reflect

As you read/watch about government and governance shifts and alternatives that support racial equity, what comes up for you? What systems of governance are you a part of and what and who do these serve?

How active are you in advocating for shifts in government and governance so that racial justice moves to the center? What alternative governance forms are you engaged in that support more equitable processes and outcomes?

Reflect on your life as a bookseller:

  • In your daily communications with colleagues, bookselling associations, publishers, publicists, authors-are you experiencing racial diversity?
  • At your bookstore, are you sourcing your office, cleaning, cafe supplies, and professional services (accounting, legal and HR support) from primarily white providers? Is your bank BIPOC-owned and/or supportive of marginalized communities with actions and grants?
  • If you’re not seeing or supporting racial diversity in daily communications or in store sourcing of supplies and professional services, how does that make you feel?
  • Could you actively change this? How?
  • Further resources: Lee and Low Diversity Baseline Survey
  • Diverse Bookstores Face Unique Challenges

Act

  • Watch the “Bookselling and Free Expression” conversation, sponsored by the regional bookseller associations, or read the transcript.
  • Reach out to local and state government/elected officials and inquire about how they are considering racial inequities in their policy making. Consult the toolkits from GARE to bring questions and considerations to their attention.
  • Bring a critical eye to the existing governance models in your store, other local businesses, and the greater community. How are these aligned with the goals of racial equity? A helpful tool for gauging this is a race equity impact assessment. Bring these questions to members of these governing bodies.
  • Experiment with new processes for interaction and decision-making.

Dig Deeper

Explore other links on the Challenge Resource Page. See how other Challenge participants are doing, and let them know how you are doing on the Challenge Bulletin Board

SIBA thanks its generous sponsors, who have made the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge possible:

SourcebooksIngram Content Group

Many of the quotes used in the Challenge are excerpted from Words of Change: Anti-Racism by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright 2020 By Kenyra Rankin. All rights reserved.

Although SIBA has modified when appropriate for a bookseller audience, the majority of prompts and resources come directly from the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge created by Food Solutions New England (FSNE), a regional collaborative network organized to support the emergence and continued viability of a New England food system that is a resilient driver of healthy food for all, racial equity, sustainable farming and fishing, and thriving communities. We are so grateful for their extraordinary work creating this program and making it available to other organizations.

Feedback? We welcome your thoughts.

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