I’m just a short drive or bus ride away from not just one but both Washington, D.C. area locations of the phenomenal Mahogany Books, an upscale bookstore dedicated to Black-authored and -centered books from all around the African diaspora.
The second and most recent location is in a prime tourist and convention village on the Potomac River. This area, National Harbor, Maryland, pops up in datelines during the annual Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) gathering (though CPAC abandoned National Harbor this past year for a less Covid-restrictive location in Florida). It is not known nationally as the safe, open footbridge, bike, and pedestrian trail and community center connecting our region’s state-level and state-like municipalities, teeming with people of all walks of life.
But that footbridge was a refuge for me at the height of the pandemic, and going to my Planet Fitness across the street felt dangerous. I wrote about how much I loved the Virginia shores of this Potomac River connector earlier this year in another publication, but in this prediction, the Maryland shores are getting some much-needed attention, along with its beloved bookstore.
Mahogany is one of many Black bookstores, including Harambee just off that Virginia shore, that were highlighted in this list from Oprah Daily of all the Black bookstores in the United States.
Mahogany is also the same bookstore that hosted the book club former president Barack Obama visited. Most recently — with a sibling Black and queer-owned bookstore, Loyalty, and the D.C. Public Library — it hosted a sold-out The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story book talk with Nicole Hannah-Jones.
Stores like these prove that Black lives can be centered, prosperous, and free, while providing a key service — information — to all.
The spread of information — accurate information — is vital. And just like we have an army of Black bookstores, and feminist bookstores, and LGBTQIA+ bookstores, 2022 will mark the year that my publications, The Black Urbanist and Kristpattern, will join so many others — Essence, a rebooted Ebony, Sesli, Black Enterprise, The Undefeated, Radicle Threads, Capital B, The 19th, and so many more — in their own cavalry of informative, accurate, timely, solution-filled and service-powered press.
A press where our labors are not in vain. A press on the shoulders of our ancestors Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells-Barnett and John H. Johnson. A press that — rather than disrespecting and marginalizing not just its communities but its laborers and journalists — calls back our collective power, breaking down all the doors and walls. A press that will lead our economy and be a daily source of information, not just in crisis or pain.
Black information matters. The Black press matters, and it, along with the media and press of all the marginalized, will be our saving grace going forward.
Kristen Jeffers is founder and editor-in-chief of Kristen Jeffers Media.
I’m just a short drive or bus ride away from not just one but both Washington, D.C. area locations of the phenomenal Mahogany Books, an upscale bookstore dedicated to Black-authored and -centered books from all around the African diaspora.
The second and most recent location is in a prime tourist and convention village on the Potomac River. This area, National Harbor, Maryland, pops up in datelines during the annual Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) gathering (though CPAC abandoned National Harbor this past year for a less Covid-restrictive location in Florida). It is not known nationally as the safe, open footbridge, bike, and pedestrian trail and community center connecting our region’s state-level and state-like municipalities, teeming with people of all walks of life.
But that footbridge was a refuge for me at the height of the pandemic, and going to my Planet Fitness across the street felt dangerous. I wrote about how much I loved the Virginia shores of this Potomac River connector earlier this year in another publication, but in this prediction, the Maryland shores are getting some much-needed attention, along with its beloved bookstore.
Mahogany is one of many Black bookstores, including Harambee just off that Virginia shore, that were highlighted in this list from Oprah Daily of all the Black bookstores in the United States.
Mahogany is also the same bookstore that hosted the book club former president Barack Obama visited. Most recently — with a sibling Black and queer-owned bookstore, Loyalty, and the D.C. Public Library — it hosted a sold-out The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story book talk with Nicole Hannah-Jones.
Stores like these prove that Black lives can be centered, prosperous, and free, while providing a key service — information — to all.
The spread of information — accurate information — is vital. And just like we have an army of Black bookstores, and feminist bookstores, and LGBTQIA+ bookstores, 2022 will mark the year that my publications, The Black Urbanist and Kristpattern, will join so many others — Essence, a rebooted Ebony, Sesli, Black Enterprise, The Undefeated, Radicle Threads, Capital B, The 19th, and so many more — in their own cavalry of informative, accurate, timely, solution-filled and service-powered press.
A press where our labors are not in vain. A press on the shoulders of our ancestors Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells-Barnett and John H. Johnson. A press that — rather than disrespecting and marginalizing not just its communities but its laborers and journalists — calls back our collective power, breaking down all the doors and walls. A press that will lead our economy and be a daily source of information, not just in crisis or pain.
Black information matters. The Black press matters, and it, along with the media and press of all the marginalized, will be our saving grace going forward.
Kristen Jeffers is founder and editor-in-chief of Kristen Jeffers Media.
Zizi Papacharissi
Anthony Nadler
Mike Rispoli
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Brian Moritz
Simon Galperin
Joy Mayer
Gabe Schneider
Jody Brannon
Eric Nuzum
Ståle Grut
Sarah Stonbely
Cindy Royal
Mandy Jenkins
Sarah Marshall
Laxmi Parthasarathy
Joshua P. Darr
Don Day
Julia Angwin
Larry Ryckman
Kristen Jeffers
Stefanie Murray
Joanne McNeil
Shannon McGregor Carolyn Schmitt
Jesse Holcomb
Richard Tofel
John Davidow
Cristina Tardáguila
Doris Truong
Chicas Poderosas
Burt Herman
j. Siguru Wahutu
Anika Anand
Meena Thiruvengadam
Francesco Zaffarano
Kendra Pierre-Louis
A.J. Bauer
Amy Schmitz Weiss
Christoph Mergerson
Joe Amditis
Gonzalo del Peon
Jim Friedlich
Errin Haines
Whitney Phillips
Melody Kramer
Raney Aronson-Rath
Mary Walter-Brown
Tom Trewinnard
Moreno Cruz Osório
Jennifer Brandel
Catalina Albeanu
Victor Pickard
Natalia Viana
Kerri Hoffman
Michael W. Wagner
S. Mitra Kalita
Juleyka Lantigua
Chase Davis
Matt DeRienzo
Parker Molloy
Millie Tran
Paul Cheung
Christina Shih
Stephen Fowler
Amara Aguilar
Kristen Muller
Daniel Eilemberg
Mario García
Megan McCarthy
Ariel Zirulnick
Sam Guzik
Alice Antheaume
David Skok
Tony Baranowski
Cherian George
Rachel Glickhouse
An Xiao Mina
Robert Hernandez
Anita Varma
Julia Munslow
Kathleen Searles Rebekah Trumble
Candace Amos
Jonas Kaiser
Tamar Charney
Andrew Freedman
Janelle Salanga
Jessica Clark
Izabella Kaminska
Jesenia De Moya Correa
Matthew Pressman
Joni Deutsch
Jennifer Coogan
Nikki Usher
James Green
David Cohn
Simon Allison
Gordon Crovitz
Matt Karolian
Wilson Liévano
Shalabh Upadhyay