Project: Feminist and Black-Owned Bookstores

This project was created by students in the GWSS/GLBT 3404 spring 2023 class. To explore other projects created by students in this class, please visit the complete collection available at this MNT project library page.

Bookstores are widely known for selling books and hosting readings/signing events with authors, but they contribute much more to their communities. They are a space containing information on every topic, where anyone who walks through their doors can find something they are passionate about. Communities foster friendships and education through reading and conversing with other community members at these bookstores. Our project focuses specifically on the feminist-owned Amazon Bookstore Cooperative and Black-owned Garnet Books, which is also queer, woman-owned. We want to stress the importance of Amazon’s history as the first feminist, lesbian-owned bookstore in Minnesota and how it provided a safe space for feminist and queer people to learn about feminism and queer history/politics. They also sold books exclusively written by women and women of color, which stressed the importance of learning about feminism and lesbian politics from the perspectives of women. We wanted to tie Amazon to Black Garnet because even though Amazon is no longer around, its impact as the first lesbian bookstore in the U.S. and how Amazon paved the way for many other queer bookstores to flourish. Black Garnet’s primary focus as an independent bookstore is to buy and sell books written by and for Black people, but they also sell books and illustrations by all authors of color. They wanted to own a bookstore where young children of color could enter and finally see themselves represented in the books on the shelves. These bookstores that sold/sell books written entirely by women, Black people, and all people of color emphasize how important it is to learn from people's first-hand experiences and to read literature from authors who have different backgrounds than you because that is a more accurate representation of our world. Amazon and Black Garnet encourage conversations among patrons and event attendance to ensure everyone in their community feels represented in their bookstores and find the spaces comfortable for readings and gatherings with their peers.