Chicago rapper Noname launched her own book club in 2019 that focused on books written by people of color. Now, the club has its own headquarters in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Los Angeles called the Radical Hood Library.
The Noname Book Club’s official Twitter account announced the news on September 30 that included an invite to the grand opening on Saturday (October 2).
“We are so excited to finally open our Radical Hood Library!” the tweet read. “This is a black led organization that was created to service black/brown folks and the RSVP prioritization will reflect that. There will be music, free food and more! Please bring a new or used book. See you there!!!”
Various sections of the library includes prison writings, theory (Black feminism, queer theories, etc.), global Black resistance, class organizing, organizing strategies, African American history, Imperialism and literature.
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But Noname’s favorite parts of the library are admittedly the “Fuck The Police” and Black Capitalism Won’t Save Us sections.
The Noname Book Club partnered with seven cities across the U.S. last year to ensure the book club picks are in the collections of their branches, which consists of nearly 200 different libraries.
It also expanded its operations with the Prison Program to send books to those incarcerated. Since April, they went from shipping 44 books per month to over 600. Noname promised even if the library didn’t work out as planned, the space they rented would serve as a shipping and packing space for the books sent to prisons.
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The library is completely free to the community, but patrons are encouraged to donate $1 a month to keep it going. Find more information here.
