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Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores
An homage to Black bookstores, featuring a selection of shops around the country alongside essays that celebrate the history, community, activism, and culture these spaces embody, with an original foreword by Nikki Giovanni.
Black literature is perhaps the most powerful, polarizing force in the modern American zeitgeist. Today—as Black novels draw authoritarian ire, as Black memoirs shape public debates, as Black polemics inspire protest petitions—it’s more important than ever to highlight the places that center these Black bookstores.
Traversing teeming metropolises and tiny towns, Prose to the People explores a these spaces, chronicling these Black bookstore's past and present lives. Combining narrative prose, one-on-one interviews, original essays, and specially curated poetry, Prose to the People is a listener's road trip companion to the world of Black books.
Thoughtfully curated by writer and Black bookstore owner Katie Mitchell, Prose to the People is a must-have addition to the shelves of anyone who loves book culture and Black history. Though not a definitive guide, this dynamic book centers profiles of over fifty Black bookstores from the Northeast to the mid-Atlantic, the South, and the West Coast.
Interspersed throughout are essays, poems, and interviews by New York Times bestsellers Kiese Laymon, Rio Cortez, Pearl Cleage, and many more journalists, activists, authors, academics, and poets that offer deeper perspectives on these bookstores' role throughout the diaspora. Complete with a foreword by world-renowned poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, Prose to the People is a beautiful tribute to these vital pillars of the Black community.
Black literature is perhaps the most powerful, polarizing force in the modern American zeitgeist. Today—as Black novels draw authoritarian ire, as Black memoirs shape public debates, as Black polemics inspire protest petitions—it’s more important than ever to highlight the places that center these Black bookstores.
Traversing teeming metropolises and tiny towns, Prose to the People explores a these spaces, chronicling these Black bookstore's past and present lives. Combining narrative prose, one-on-one interviews, original essays, and specially curated poetry, Prose to the People is a listener's road trip companion to the world of Black books.
Thoughtfully curated by writer and Black bookstore owner Katie Mitchell, Prose to the People is a must-have addition to the shelves of anyone who loves book culture and Black history. Though not a definitive guide, this dynamic book centers profiles of over fifty Black bookstores from the Northeast to the mid-Atlantic, the South, and the West Coast.
Interspersed throughout are essays, poems, and interviews by New York Times bestsellers Kiese Laymon, Rio Cortez, Pearl Cleage, and many more journalists, activists, authors, academics, and poets that offer deeper perspectives on these bookstores' role throughout the diaspora. Complete with a foreword by world-renowned poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, Prose to the People is a beautiful tribute to these vital pillars of the Black community.
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Published April 8, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 19, 2025
First let’s start with the cover art. Incredible. Then the pictures inside. Beautiful. Certainly, anyone and everyone who has been inside a Black bookstore will smile with delight as these photos are sure to spark winsome memories……..a book certainly worth space on your shelf!
January 30, 2025
Outstanding. A true love letter to Black bookstores and bibliophiles.
Read my full review here: https://www.hypelit.com/post/prose-to...
Read my full review here: https://www.hypelit.com/post/prose-to...
May 28, 2025
This book traces the history and contemporary presence of Black-owned and African-Centered bookshops in each region of the United States. It provides an inspiring synopsis of the creative and communal impulses that drove Black folks to open such shops, and brilliant articulated the triumphs and struggles of each of these endeavors. Not only does the book include a tremendous database for active Black-owned bookshops, it tells the personal stories of these shops and lays the groundwork for future Black bookstore owners. Highly recommended.
April 15, 2025
Learned a lot about bookstores from this book.
September 7, 2025
Katie Mitchell’s Prose To The People, A Celebration of Black Bookstores, is the perfect coffee table book.
Is that still a thing?
At my place, it is. With its bright gold embossment, black block letters, and fervent historical tells, its cover pictures are vast yet unencumbered, Prose to the People is a mosaic for and of the masses.
One of the reasons I bought it is because my favorite bookstore is featured, its “celebration” written by one of my faves and its introduction written by an all-time great.
Reason enough, but although the colors portend happiness and celebration, Prose To The People contains a melancholy that is palpable. For many of the stores featured, the reminder “their doors closed on,” is sobering yet represents a challenge to preserve what we have and build hope where we can.
In the table of contents, its chapters are in the form of receipts, harkening to the expectation and realization that a “store” is first and foremost a business. “Keeping receipts” also means that Mitchell, herself a bookstore owner, is not playing with us about this sojourn of over fifty Black bookstores and traversing these ununited states tethered in black.
In the foreword, the late, great Nikki Giovanni, reminds us that books are here to stoke our imaginations to further our dreams “whether people give us books, money to buy books, or paper to draw on, we find ways to make up our own stories.”
There were once Black bookstores on almost every corner.
Prose To The People is a keepsake. One that can be passed down and onward – someday mine will be a gift and hopefully cherished and moved on, but for now, it’ll hold a place revered, sanctified and a constant reminder that yes, mfs do read.
Is that still a thing?
At my place, it is. With its bright gold embossment, black block letters, and fervent historical tells, its cover pictures are vast yet unencumbered, Prose to the People is a mosaic for and of the masses.
One of the reasons I bought it is because my favorite bookstore is featured, its “celebration” written by one of my faves and its introduction written by an all-time great.
Reason enough, but although the colors portend happiness and celebration, Prose To The People contains a melancholy that is palpable. For many of the stores featured, the reminder “their doors closed on,” is sobering yet represents a challenge to preserve what we have and build hope where we can.
In the table of contents, its chapters are in the form of receipts, harkening to the expectation and realization that a “store” is first and foremost a business. “Keeping receipts” also means that Mitchell, herself a bookstore owner, is not playing with us about this sojourn of over fifty Black bookstores and traversing these ununited states tethered in black.
In the foreword, the late, great Nikki Giovanni, reminds us that books are here to stoke our imaginations to further our dreams “whether people give us books, money to buy books, or paper to draw on, we find ways to make up our own stories.”
There were once Black bookstores on almost every corner.
Prose To The People is a keepsake. One that can be passed down and onward – someday mine will be a gift and hopefully cherished and moved on, but for now, it’ll hold a place revered, sanctified and a constant reminder that yes, mfs do read.
April 24, 2025
Books are magic, and bookstores are where you go (in a capitalistic world) to find that magic (when you don’t go to a library). But as *Prose to the People* shows, in the Black community in the US, bookstores have also served as a place to gather, learn, mobilise, debate, protest, find support and healing, gather in fellowship, socialise, and much much more. They are repositories of Black history; so is this book.
Katie Mitchell has collected an amazing array of stories and photographs from across the US—from New York to LA, and from Detroit and Portland to Houston—and across time in this beautiful volume. Some of these stores are long gone and exist only in community memory and archives; others opened as recently as during the pandemic.
“In the late 1960s, Black bookstores emerged as cultural hubs of Black art and thought, as the incubators for Black aesthetics and Black Power, as the physical spaces where the modern artistic movements of slam poetry, spoken word, and hip-hop were first seeded. And today, just as the Black Art's bookshops bloomed from the tumult of the Civil Rights era, a new generation of Black bookstores is blossoming amid the upheaval of the Movement for Black Lives.”
Did you know about D. Ruggles Books, where Frederick Douglass was sheltered for a time? Or Harlem's first Black bookstore, Young’s Book Exchange? Or National Memorial African Bookstore:
“Legend holds that [Lewis] Michaux decided to sell books after seeing some through a window display during his time as a window washer. He started small, with only a handful and a wagon to drag his inventory up and down Harlem's streets during the beginning of the Great Depression.”
Included in this book are excellent essays by some wonderful writers, including Ytasha L. Womack, Michael A. Gonzalez, Joshua Clark Davis, Rio Cortez, Aaron Ross Coleman, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Kiese Laymon, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, and more.
What this book has stirred in me, a lover of both Afro- and Afrodiasporic history and also of books, is the desire to one day make a pilgrimage to as many of the sites mentioned as I can. If I can’t—and it would be the work of perhaps a lifetime to track down all of these places and memories—I’ll treat *Prose to the People* as a reference book of places to go if ever I’m in a particular area (and I have in fact already made a recommendation to a friend).
A phenomenal, well-researched and captivating resource, with the additional gift of something very special: a foreword from Nikki Giovanni.
Many thanks to Clarkson Potter and NetGalley for early access.
Katie Mitchell has collected an amazing array of stories and photographs from across the US—from New York to LA, and from Detroit and Portland to Houston—and across time in this beautiful volume. Some of these stores are long gone and exist only in community memory and archives; others opened as recently as during the pandemic.
“In the late 1960s, Black bookstores emerged as cultural hubs of Black art and thought, as the incubators for Black aesthetics and Black Power, as the physical spaces where the modern artistic movements of slam poetry, spoken word, and hip-hop were first seeded. And today, just as the Black Art's bookshops bloomed from the tumult of the Civil Rights era, a new generation of Black bookstores is blossoming amid the upheaval of the Movement for Black Lives.”
Did you know about D. Ruggles Books, where Frederick Douglass was sheltered for a time? Or Harlem's first Black bookstore, Young’s Book Exchange? Or National Memorial African Bookstore:
“Legend holds that [Lewis] Michaux decided to sell books after seeing some through a window display during his time as a window washer. He started small, with only a handful and a wagon to drag his inventory up and down Harlem's streets during the beginning of the Great Depression.”
Included in this book are excellent essays by some wonderful writers, including Ytasha L. Womack, Michael A. Gonzalez, Joshua Clark Davis, Rio Cortez, Aaron Ross Coleman, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Kiese Laymon, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, and more.
What this book has stirred in me, a lover of both Afro- and Afrodiasporic history and also of books, is the desire to one day make a pilgrimage to as many of the sites mentioned as I can. If I can’t—and it would be the work of perhaps a lifetime to track down all of these places and memories—I’ll treat *Prose to the People* as a reference book of places to go if ever I’m in a particular area (and I have in fact already made a recommendation to a friend).
A phenomenal, well-researched and captivating resource, with the additional gift of something very special: a foreword from Nikki Giovanni.
Many thanks to Clarkson Potter and NetGalley for early access.
June 2, 2025
What a BEAUTIFUL love letter to Black bookstores and those who call them home 🫂🥹
You can tell this book was crafted with so much care/love for us, and the foreword by Nikki Giovani definitely set the tone. This gem blends all the ways we remember; archives, interviews, photos, essays, etc. to pay homage to Black bookstores across time and space. I learned so much about the history of Black bookstores across the U.S., from their shared missions to promote literacy as a necessary tool for Black liberation, consciousness, and futures, to facing threats of surveillance because of doing just that. I also loved learning more about the Black women who owned bookstores and took care of each other + seeing how the folks who created new spaces often worked for bookstores that closed.
We’re lucky to have this gift. Please read it!!! Thank you to Blk & Co for the gifted copy!
You can tell this book was crafted with so much care/love for us, and the foreword by Nikki Giovani definitely set the tone. This gem blends all the ways we remember; archives, interviews, photos, essays, etc. to pay homage to Black bookstores across time and space. I learned so much about the history of Black bookstores across the U.S., from their shared missions to promote literacy as a necessary tool for Black liberation, consciousness, and futures, to facing threats of surveillance because of doing just that. I also loved learning more about the Black women who owned bookstores and took care of each other + seeing how the folks who created new spaces often worked for bookstores that closed.
We’re lucky to have this gift. Please read it!!! Thank you to Blk & Co for the gifted copy!
May 30, 2025
Insightful and Beautiful. This text provides a beautiful pictorial representation of the importance of Black Owned and Focuses Bookstores along with interesting anecdotes and reflections. The history provides context for names that I have heard of but don't fully appreciate their relevance. The longer essays provide great insight to the importance of the bookstore in a deeper context. My favorite read was almost half way in the text. The author explains how the Black community has under gone apocalypse after apocalypse and each time their stories provide a framework for surviving the next. Powerful message for a generation.
May 11, 2025
I received a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
While I wouldn't call this the kind of thing one really reads from cover to cover, it's a beautiful book in more of a "coffee table" style and I really enjoyed flipping through it and reading about the many black-owned bookstores featured. The histories of the ones I read were really interesting and the design of the book is beautiful. I look forward to passing this along to someone who may have a more vested interest than I did, but I really appreciated it for what it is.
While I wouldn't call this the kind of thing one really reads from cover to cover, it's a beautiful book in more of a "coffee table" style and I really enjoyed flipping through it and reading about the many black-owned bookstores featured. The histories of the ones I read were really interesting and the design of the book is beautiful. I look forward to passing this along to someone who may have a more vested interest than I did, but I really appreciated it for what it is.
July 4, 2025
I can’t remember the last time I got a book from the library and decided I needed to own it. This is the one!
The history of bookstores and the fact that reading is still seen as revolutionary… it’s beautiful and heartbreaking to read the history while joyful to see the next generations continue these traditions.
The layout and design is gorgeous and thoughtful. My to-read and to-visit list has grown because of this book.
My only criticism is that I can’t go back in time and make sure We Are LIT in Grand Rapids was included.
https://wearelitgr.com/
The history of bookstores and the fact that reading is still seen as revolutionary… it’s beautiful and heartbreaking to read the history while joyful to see the next generations continue these traditions.
The layout and design is gorgeous and thoughtful. My to-read and to-visit list has grown because of this book.
My only criticism is that I can’t go back in time and make sure We Are LIT in Grand Rapids was included.
https://wearelitgr.com/
November 16, 2025
Prose to the People is a thoughtful, inspiring read. Mitchell explores the interconnectedness of Black bookshops, community building, revolutionary thinking, and culture creation. Between her portraits (literary and photographic) of shops both historic and contemporary and the essays she features by black authors and thinkers, she paints a moving and critical image of Black history and present in America. By turns funny, nostalgic, sweet, and fierce, I could not put this book down and have already recommended it to half a dozen people.
August 28, 2025
A beautifully printed edition from Katie Mitchell. Great photos throughout the book, Miss Mitchell crosses the country identifying the black owned bookstores of the USA. Her well presented research identifies how black communities and black ownership have competently shaped the USA and its history. After reading this, I found myself wanting to travel and find some of these stores.
****This book was w0n in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a fair review. ***
****This book was w0n in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a fair review. ***
November 21, 2025
If the goal of this book is to capture all the different prominent Black bookstores, then it accomplished its goal.
However, I could have used more editing and analysis of the bookstore data to create trends about the time periods and areas that the companies were created.
However, I could have used more editing and analysis of the bookstore data to create trends about the time periods and areas that the companies were created.
April 28, 2025
A must have for every home library. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to meet the author of this amazing history book about Black bookstores. I learned so much in this book!
June 30, 2025
[possible rating tweak and review to come]
July 16, 2025
I learned a lot about activism, historical work of black bookstores, and other things about community/culture building that has been happening through black bookstores. Fascinating and inspiring.
September 3, 2025
An incredibly loving glimpse into the outstanding work that black owned bookstores play in both building and protecting community.
Read
September 7, 2025Aaron Ross Coleman's "Bodies in the Books" was thought provoking
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews