By: Georgia Valdes
FROM: Pasadena Star-News

Pasadena local, Nikki High, is poised to open an independent bookstore in the city that exclusively stocks authors who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. Octavia’s Bookshelf—set to open this February—is aptly named after Black, sci-fi author and Pasadena legend, Octavia Butler.

High announced the opening in a now viral tweet: “I took the leap and quit my job to open my very own bookstore.” While mainly self funded, High set up a GoFundMe, where anyone can donate toward the bookstore’s opening success. The initiative is just over halfway to its $20,000 goal.

An avid reader, High was thinking about opening her own bookstore for years. The option felt out of reach until she found inspiration while on a trip to Swaziland in South Africa. There she had the opportunity to connect with the groups Baobob Batik and Tsandza Weaving.

Both groups aim to empower women workers with sustainable and fair work. Baobob Batik employs artisans to create batik cloth wares. Batik refers to an Indonesian method of hand-printing textiles by coating with wax the parts not to be dyed. Tsandza Weaving artisans create weaved products by hand in every step of the process from dying, spinning, weaving and sewing.

“It was just an amazing experience to be able to work with them. They were so willing to share their knowledge and you know, we ate together and took breaks together and had dinner together, ” High said. “And I just saw how these women cared so deeply for one another, and then extended that kindness to a perfect stranger like me and made me feel like family. And I thought I could recreate that in a bookstore.” Read Rest of the Article Here