[News] 'Economic duress is nothing new': Can America's oldest black bookstore survive the pandemic?

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/15/marcus-books-oakland-oldest-black-bookstore?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR2arkBBccN6GzB2reDKTHVS6Zg3mudUncuzYcN_Av5NcoF_lA-E4Ccv-38
'Economic
duress is nothing new': Can America's oldest black bookstore survive the
pandemic?
André Wheeler - May 15, 2020
------------------------------

Since 1975, Oakland’s Marcus Books has survived one of the most dramatic
gentrifications in US history, aggressive competition from online stores,
and the inevitable racism directed at a space that celebrates black voices.
Located in a city that saw its black population nearly halved over two
decades, Marcus Books staff learned how to navigate the intense pressures
and forge a path towards survival.

But all those years of hard work were wiped away overnight when the Bay
Area announced a strict shelter-in-place order in response to the
coronavirus pandemic. Now, a seminal living piece of American history – the
nation’s oldest black bookstore – is at risk of disappearing forever.

“A black bookstore is not only about the exchange of merchandise,” Jasmine
Johnson, whose grandparents founded Marcus Books, tells the Guardian. The
disappearance of Marcus Books – which first opened in San Francisco in 1960
– and other black-centric book stores would be devastating for the larger
black community, she says. “We’re really about congregating around the
diversity of black living and thinking. Surviving under economic duress is
nothing new to us, but this is something totally different.”

The acute distress Marcus Books and other black bookstores are
facinghighlights a severe disparity in reader-led funding. City Lights, an
independent bookstore founded in San Francisco in 1953 and designated a
landmark in 2001, launched a Go
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/aeany-keep-city-lights-books-alive>Fund
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/aeany-keep-city-lights-books-alive>Me
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/aeany-keep-city-lights-books-alive> last month
and met its goal of $400,000 in days. At the time of writing, the bookstore
had surpassed its goal by nearly $100,000. City Lights has not disclosed
how it plans to allocate the excess funds, amid calls to donate them to
other struggling local bookstores.
[image: Marcus Books in Oakland.]
Marcus Books in Oakland. Photograph: Courtesy Marcus Books

Meanwhile, Marcus Books launched its Go
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser>Fund
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser>Me
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser> in April
and has failed to reach even half of its $200,000 goal. When asked about
the stark differences in Marcus Books’ and City Lights’ fundraisers,
Johnson argues: “It’s pretty deeply connected to what happens when you
qualify anything with black. You’re met with suspicion or dismissal.” She
believes fundraisers by black bookstores are viewed by the larger public as
a niche interest. “The publishing industry has had a history of framing us
as a ‘diversity section’.”

Black bookstores have fought tooth and nail for the past three decades, as
a handful closed each year. According to the African-American Literature
Book Club, there were over 200 black-owned bookstores in the 90s. In 2019, the
number was slightly over 120 <https://aalbc.com/bookstores/list.php>. The
pandemic has only exacerbated their already precarious existence.

Johnson sees this as an opportunity to remind America why supporting black
bookstores is important, even in normal times. “We want to come out of this
and go from simply surviving to thriving,” she says of her hopes for the
store’s fundraiser.

In an industry where black authors frequently receive less attention and
promotion than their white counterparts, bookstores such as Marcus Books
play an important role. Malcolm X was among the shop’s customers, and over
the years, prominent black authors such as Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison
held events at the bookstore – often before they experienced crossover
success and were struggling to book events elsewhere.

“When I was publishing in the 90s and early 00s and had regular tours,
Marcus was one of my favorite book stops,” the science-fiction writer
Tananarive Due says*.* Blanche Richardson, who runs the store, “is a
community gem and had sold so many of my books that Marcus produced some of
my largest and most enthusiastic crowds. I was so in love with Marcus that
I included the store in one of the scenes in my horror novel, The Good
House, as an hommage to try to capture the magic of the store. Marcus is
more than a bookstore – it’s a neighborhood, city and state institution.”
[image: The Black Panthers march in protest of the trial of co-founder Huey
P Newton in Oakland. Many black bookstores served as hubs for the Black
Power movement.]
The Black Panthers march in protest of the trial of co-founder Huey P
Newton in Oakland. Many black bookstores served as hubs for the Black Power
movement. Photograph: Bettmann/Getty Images

Black bookstores have always had to justify their existence and combat
racism. The FBI frequently spied on
<https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/fbi-black-bookstores/553598/>
them in the 60s and 70s, when many served as cultural hubs for the Black
Power movement. Johnsonsays she and other staff encountered
“white-only-water-fountain-level racism” often. This continues during the
pandemic: “It shows up on Twitter through people asking ‘Why does a black
bookstore need to be saved? Why can’t they save themselves?’ They’re
usually from anonymous accounts.”

Marcus Books’ call for help is not unique. Many black bookstores across the
nation have launched fundraising campaigns as last-ditch efforts to stay
afloat. There’s Black Stone <https://www.gofundme.com/f/SupportBlackStone>
of Ypsilanti, Michigan; Eyeseeme
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/eyeseeme-children039s-bookstore>, which
specializes in black children’s literature, of St Louis; and L
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore>E
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore>M
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore>S
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore>
of Seattle
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore>,
which claims to be the last black-centric bookstore of the Pacific
north-west. An entire section of black culture is under threat.
[image: marcus books interior]
Many black bookstores across the nation have launched fundraising campaigns
as last-ditch efforts to stay afloat. Photograph: Courtesy Marcus Books

Some of these stores were not equipped to compete with online sales during
normal times, much less during a pandemic. Unlike many other independent
bookstores, Marcus Books lacks an online operation. So, for now, the store
is reliant on phone orders and storefront pickups, severely limiting
business when many customers are rarely leaving their homes and turning to
online delivery in unprecedented numbers. Richardson, the daughter of the
Marcus Books founders, is still operating the store every day.

The contributions to Marcus Books are trickling in, but not fast enough.
Hoping to boost support, the store organized an online stream that featured
live readings from the poets Danez Smith, Daveed Diggs, Tongo Eisen-Martin,
and others. More than 400 people attended, raising $9,000. Johnson said it
was more than a fundraising event, offering a chance for the black
community to connect. “There was a real alchemy that came together during
it,” she says.

Despite all of the challenges facing Marcus Books, Johnson says she is
optimistic about the future of the store. It will find a way, she says:
“Black bookstores have been making it work for years.”

*Click here for more information on Marcus Books 60th Anniversary
Fundraiser <https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser>*
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