For the Love of Black Books: Bookstores in the DMV Panel Discussion

Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) is a one-day national party that takes place at indie bookstores across the country on the last Saturday in April. While hundreds of bookstores take part in this celebration, for Black bookstores, especially ones that center on the Black/Pan-African experience, we acknowledge our unique challenges and responsibilities. Join us for a disucssion on t the  history, significance and trajectory of Black bookstores!

About Shirikian Gerima:

Shirikiana Aina is an award-winning independent  filmmaker, film educator, and owner of Sankofa Video and Bookstore and  cultural center in Washington, D.C. She was born and raised in Detroit  where she was shaped by the political and cultural activism of the 1960s  and 70s. She also credits this era with the definition and aura of  Sankofa Bookstore, where black literature and arts flourish amidst  community interaction.

Aina graduated from Howard University and UCLA, where she studied  filmmaking and African area studies. She has taught film as a lecturer  at Howard University. She produced and directed the documentaries Footprints of Pan Africanism, on the pan African experiment of the Nkrumah years; Through the Door of No Return,  a personal journey bridging the 400-year gap between filmmaker and the  slave trade; and Brick by Brick on 70s gentrification and displacement  of people of color. Aina has screened her films and participated in  numerous film panels in Egypt, Burkina Faso, Brazil, and the United  States.

About Bro. Yao (Hoke Glover):

Bro. Yao (Hoke S. Glover III) is the former founder and  co-owner of one of the Nation’s largest African American Bookstores  from 1993-2008, and currently works as an Assistant Professor at Bowie  State University in the Department of Language, Literature, and Cultural  Studies. His work has been published in Crab Orchard Review, African-American Review, Ploughshares, Beltway Quarterly, and other journals. He is currently working on a book of essays called The Wuhan Soundtrack based on his experience living in Wuhan, China.