#Black book shelves how to#

“It helps when you see someone that’s a reflection of you,” says Lewis.

Michelle Lewis from Third Eye Books, which is an official partner of the festival, believes there is power in that fellowship. “I’m so grateful for people who look like my children - and people who don’t look like my children - who get to see what our community looks like when we show up to tell our stories and share our stories,” she says. We weren’t connecting in ways that I’m finding we’re able to now.”Ījose-Fisher says gathering places like Third Eye Books and the book club Prose Before Bros are gradually driving that change, but she hopes the Freadom Festival will be an even bigger catalyst. “And it wasn’t that there weren’t other Black people in Oregon or Portland area - it just was that we were so disconnected. “I even joked that the only Black people I knew were my children, and if I wanted to see another Black adult, I’d have to look in the mirror,” says Ajose-Fisher. Her book, “No God Like The Mother,” won the Ken Kesey Award For Fiction in 2020.Ījose-Fisher recalls the feelings of loneliness and isolation she experienced when her family moved to the Portland area nearly two decades ago. While a celebration of Black history is at its core, the Freadom Festival also aims to foster community and highlight the work of featured contemporary Oregon-based writers like Kesha Ajose-Fisher.

#Black book shelves how to#

Because at one point it was illegal for us to learn how to read or know how to read, or to read,” explains Woods. “Really it’s an event to acknowledge the importance literacy and books had in gaining my Black ancestors,’ our Black ancestors’ freedom. Black literacy was an especially powerful tool in the abolitionist movement of the 19th century and the years that followed the American Civil War. The timing of the inaugural event with the Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, contains powerful symbolism for Woods. The inaugural Freadom Festival is from noon-6 p.m., Saturday, June 18, at Portland’s Peninsula Park.

We’re having it during Juneteenth Weekend,” says Woods. “It’s called the Freadom Festival and it’s a celebration of literacy and liberation. That rapid growth encouraged Woods to adapt and expand its concept into a fully-fledged Black book festival debuting in Portland this week. Prose Before Bros now has over 400 members. “I want to carve out spaces for people who look like me and who don’t often see themselves in spaces like the literary world,” says Woods. Nanea Woods founded the group in 2018 with a simple goal. Lewis is a member of a reading group for women of color called Prose Before Bros that’s representative of this surge in enthusiasm among the city’s Black readers. Since opening in its current location nearly a year ago, Third Eye Books has received an outpouring of support from Portland’s literary community, especially grassroots organizations like book clubs. These authors always challenged the status quo.” “We have to expose our kids to the James Baldwins, the Zora Neale Hurstons, the Toni Morrisons. To her, they’re more than just paper and words. The store is lovingly curated by Charles and especially Michelle, who says the store is doing vital work to help show Black Portlanders the power of books. Scan the room and you’ll find books on topics ranging from cooking to fiction. Ikea tall bookcase with glass doors.“And so what we’re trying to do is create an atmosphere where people can come in and embrace their culture and feel good about themselves as Black people,” says Charles Hannah, who operates the business along with his wife Michelle Lewis.