African American

ABA is encouraging the owners and staff at all member bookstores to cast ballots for the 2012 Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards. Voting is open till March 31 via an electronic form on BookWeb.org.

At the 62nd annual National Book Awards ceremony, held yesterday in New York City, stories of struggle were honored and the award winners, who included three women of color, gave voice to them. Also honored with lifetime achievement awards were Books & Books’ Mitchell Kaplan and poet John Ashbery.

BookExpo America will once again feature free education and networking opportunities developed specifically for African-American book industry professionals. The program, which begins at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, at the Javits Convention Center, is open to all BEA registered attendees; pre-registration for the African-American program is not required.

When Kevin Roberts and daughter Maia Roberts launched an online African-American bookstore a few years ago, they were well aware that "there was a lot more out there" than the small selection of African-American titles they saw at a local chain.

The Afro-American Book Stop, which was destroyed three years ago by Hurricane Katrina, will reopen on July 1. The new 1,500-square-foot store will be near its former location in New Orleans East and will celebrate its grand reopening throughout the July 4th weekend."Reopening is something I'm both excited about, yet fearful of," said Afro-American Book Stop owner Michele Lewis. "Hearing and reading so much about the struggles of bookselling, it is a bit frightening, but at the same time I'm ready."

This year's BookExpo America program for African-American book industry professionals, sponsored by the African-American Booksellers Committee, will be held on Thursday, May 29, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Registration for the program, which is open to all BEA registered attendees, is not required.

Eso Won Books, an African-American specialty store in Los Angeles, has received considerable support from the local community following last month's news of its possible closing.

Last weekend, sales at Eso Won Books in Los Angeles were up 500 percent compared to a typical weekend, according to store co-owner James Fugate.

When Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe in New York City turned five years old last month, the owners and staff of the Harlem cultural landmark were busy doing what they always do: finding creative ways to meet the reading needs of one of the nation's best known and largest African-American communities.

Before Tiffany Dow and Robin Cain opened A Shade of Gray Bookstore, a feminist store with an African-American slant, in Indianapolis, Indiana, last May, they visited other feminist bookstores -- Antigone Books in Tucson, Arizona, and Women and Children First in Chicago -- and researched African-American bookstores, including African-American Images, also in Chicago.