You may have heard, there’s a new book seller in town and she’s been doing things a little differently. Cetonia Weston-Roy started Niche Book Bar in 2020 with the goal of making Black literature more accessible and, due to the pandemic, she has had to be creative from the start.
She has hosted dozens of pop-up book and author events around the city, has created a book bike (a mobile cart full of books she attached to her bike) and sells books through her website. But from the beginning, her dream has always been to have a physical bookshop and she’s almost there. She is in the process of purchasing the building at 1937 North M.L.K Dr. in the heart of Bronzeville and plans to open her bookstore later this year.
Reading has been a passion of Weston-Roy’s since she was about seven years old and remembers getting lost in books like Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and The Stories Julian Tells by Ann Cameron. However, she recalls not being able to connect with many of the characters she read about, often unable to find books that centered around Black characters.
Beyond Trauma
The books she could see herself in were usually based in trauma – as in, stories that center the pain of Black people. “I still think it’s a problem that trauma-based literature is so easy to connect to, that’s what everyone is putting on their top lists,” says Weston-Roy. “You have to know real life, you have to know past, present, and how it affects the now. But I don’t believe that it should only be trauma work that’s easy to find.”
She believes that trauma-based novels are important to understanding racism and what causes it, but those should not be the only literature available. It’s easy to see how it can be damaging when the only books one can find with Black characters are based in pain. But Weston-Roy is set on changing this issue. “I want to center Black literature in those genres you don’t see,” like sci-fi, romance, and fantasy, she says.
Beyond the books she stocks, Weston-Roy has big aspirations for her soon-to-be bookshop. She envisions a space based in community where families can gather, people can make new connections, or simply read a book while having a glass of wine. Since the inception of Niche, she has been hosting community events, centering local Black authors, and fostering spaces that generate conversation.
Most of all, she’s determined to be an integral piece of the thriving Bronzeville neighborhood and be a part of its growth. “This is going to be the best M.L.K. street in America,” she says. Weston-Roy has already built the heart of her bookshop, now she’s waiting eagerly to open the space.
Learn more about Niche Book Bar at www.findyournichemke.org.
Read the article on the Shepherd Express, part of the regular column Hero of the Month.