“I read. I’m Black. And it’s my neighborhood,” said one eager patron, among the many who lined up to shop at the new store, named after famed Pasadena author Octavia Butler.
Despite the wait, the energy remained positive with excited smiles throughout the crowd. In a strong display of dedication, nobody hesitated to join the long cue, and no one left their places in line.
“It is still really present today, that we are imagining ourselves in a future that people don’t want to include us in. Even though we’ve been here since the beginning — We’ve been the blueprint,” said Pasadena local, Samantha Goff. “So it’s really important to just, kind of, take that narrative for ourselves. I’ve always been a big sci-fi nerd, and I got tired of reading about White boys who end up being special. Let me read about a black woman who’s doing the damn thing instead.
Local authors also attended the event, recognizing that it is a space where they can see their work celebrated. “Ball Better Than You” is poetry aimed to inspire young girls in basketball who experience misogyny in the sport. The opening was a truly family affair, amongst the crowd wearing official “Octavia’s Bookshelf” shirts were her friends and family — there to work the store’s opening day from shelf stocking, crowd control and . Her cousin, Michael Sanford, snapped photos, her sister, Bethanee McKay controlled the flow of customers and High herself rang up customers.
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