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<font size="1"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/15/marcus-books-oakland-oldest-black-bookstore?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR2arkBBccN6GzB2reDKTHVS6Zg3mudUncuzYcN_Av5NcoF_lA-E4Ccv-38">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/15/marcus-books-oakland-oldest-black-bookstore?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR2arkBBccN6GzB2reDKTHVS6Zg3mudUncuzYcN_Av5NcoF_lA-E4Ccv-38</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">'Economic duress is nothing new': Can America's oldest black bookstore survive the pandemic?</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">André Wheeler - May 15, 2020<br></div>
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<p><span><span>S</span></span>ince 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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 href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/aeany-keep-city-lights-books-alive"> a Go</a><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/aeany-keep-city-lights-books-alive">Fund</a><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/aeany-keep-city-lights-books-alive">Me</a>
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.</p>
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<img alt="Marcus Books in Oakland." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b5a301f579078a055bfc241df25c0d74ce954749/2_2_472_294/master/472.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d3c8730d800032e67fd80844ff42ac4d" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="300" height="187">
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<span>
</span></div></div></div></div></div><span> </span> Marcus Books in Oakland. Photograph: Courtesy Marcus Books
<p>Meanwhile, Marcus Books launched its <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser">Go</a><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser">Fund</a><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser">Me</a>
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’.”</p>
<p>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, <a href="https://aalbc.com/bookstores/list.php">the number was slightly over 120</a>. The pandemic has only exacerbated their already precarious existence.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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<strong>.</strong> 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.”</p>
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<img alt="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." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4a02788dafc4b8ea7ec0801fb59c189e30593fbf/0_211_2941_1764/master/2941.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=536c081677cf70a183286df6f30fc2fd">
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</span></a><a><span> </span> </a>
<span>
</span><span> </span> 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
<p>Black bookstores have always had to justify their existence and combat racism. The FBI <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/fbi-black-bookstores/553598/">frequently spied on</a>
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.”</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/SupportBlackStone">Black Stone</a> of Ypsilanti, Michigan; <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/eyeseeme-children039s-bookstore">Eyeseeme</a>, which specializes in black children’s literature, of St Louis; and <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore">L</a><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore">E</a><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore">M</a><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore">S</a><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-lems-pnw-last-and-oldest-black-bookstore"> of Seattle</a>,
which claims to be the last black-centric bookstore of the Pacific
north-west. An entire section of black culture is under threat.</p>
<div>
<img alt="marcus books interior" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2638a33f66f1ba7e8dcdd2836ba45ffcac7455b1/0_0_475_300/master/475.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=ed4a4b41057ea5c3a1ac087ce0dd4541" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="300" height="189">
</div>
<span>
</span><div class="gmail-container gmail-content-width3"><div class="gmail-content"><div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-line-height4 gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><span> </span> Many black bookstores across the nation have launched
fundraising campaigns as last-ditch efforts to stay afloat. Photograph:
Courtesy Marcus Books
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p><em>Click here for more information on <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser">Marcus Books 60th Anniversary Fundraiser</a></em></p>
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