Bookstores Show Support for Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities

Booksellers across the country have posted to social media voicing their support for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities following the murder of six women of Asian descent in Atlanta, Georgia, last week. Booksellers can find new resources and reading lists specific to supporting the AAPI community on ABA’s Antiracism Resources page.

Here is just some of what independent bookstores are posting:

• Brave and Kind Books in Decatur, Georgia, posted to Instagram, “The hate is maddening. We must continue to stand up and speak out. For each other. To call it out each and every time. (Fannie Lou Hamer said it best). None of us is free from it until we all are.”
  
  
  

  Some of Loyalty Bookstore's favorite titles by AAPI authors.
• Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, New York, urged followers to donate to Red Canary Song, AAJA Atlanta, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, and more.
• Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, posted in solidarity with the AAPI community against white supremacy.
• Loyalty Books in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., shared some of the store’s favorite AAPI titles, saying, “Loyalty is figuring out what we can do with our resources, our time, our hearts... for now we’re donating 10% of this week’s sales to the @stopasianhate community fund and we’re working on another fundraising panel with authors and the voices directly affected by this dramatic rise in violence against the AAPI community.”
• Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, posted to Instagram: “We mourn those lost, and share in the outrage about the under-reporting of anti-Asian hate crimes, which continue to rise. Though complex and rooted in a long and violent history, this current rise is due in part to a corresponding rise in racist scapegoating and rhetoric. Words are power. Racializing the pandemic with ethnic identifiers and racist language lends power to white supremacy and hate.”
• Green Apple Books in San Francisco, California, shared some of their booksellers’ favorite titles by AAPI authors, saying, “We believe one good way to support our Asian American friends and neighbors is by educating ourselves, and not leaving the impetus of that education on said friends. We have a brief but powerful stack of books to help you do so, pictured here and listed below. We believe another act of support is to call our anti-Asian racism when you see it. This is what being a good neighbor means.”
• Book Soup in West Hollywood, California, shared a list of resources made by Kim Saira and Annie Wu.
• Boulder Book Store in Boulder, Colorado, recommended Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho, calling it a “stunning picture book that celebrates diversity, self-love, and representation.”
• Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, posted to Twitter: “The Raven condemns anti-Asian racism in all forms, and we mourn for the victims of last night’s hate crimes in Atlanta. We’re donating to @AAAJ_Atlanta today; join us if you can.”
• Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis, Minnesota, recommended some of the store’s favorite titles by AAPI authors, saying, “The rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in America is horrifying and unacceptable. We stand with members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, who have the right to be treated with respect and live without fear.”