This event is by the Black Feminist Bookshop (a radical space of resistance, sisterhood and community) and is part of Black Feminist Week - 12th July to 19th July - at Housmans Radical Booksellers.

Join us for the launch of Black Feminist Week and an intimate conversation with Stella Dadzie.

We will begin with talking about OWAAD (Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent) and the creation of Black feminist/ radical/ womxn/ womanist/ lesbian centred spaces in the 70s and 80s - why did they exist? What were they like? How did they run? What was their impact and why did they eventually disappear?

We will bring the conversation forward to the present day to ask if there is still a need for Black feminist spaces and if so, what should they look like and how do we organise intergenerationally to make them happen? We will end the conversation with focusing on the Black Feminist Bookshop and ultimately asking, "does London need a Black Feminist Bookshop?"

After Stella has spoken, we will then open up the conversation to the audience for a Q&A. Once the Q&A is over, we invite you to stay for drinks and to mingle with a bookshop full of Black feminists and allies.

Speakers:

Stella Dadzie is a published writer and historian, best known for The Heart of the Race: Black Women's lives in Britain which won the 1985 Martin Luther King Award for Literature.  She is a founder member of OWAAD (Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent).

Her career as a writer and education activist spans 25 years. She has written numerous publications and resources aimed at promoting an inclusive curriculum and good practice with black adult learners and other minorities.

She is well known within the UK for her contribution to tackling youth racism and working with racist perpetrators, and is a key contributor to the development of anti-racist strategies with schools, colleges and youth services. In November 2003, she received the NBM's award for Outstanding Contributions to Race Equality in Further Education. She has run workshops and spoken at conferences in Germany, Slovenia, Poland, Norway, South Africa, the USA, Hong Kong and Malaysia.  

She appeared in 'And Still I Rise', a documentary exploring the social and historical origins of stereotypes of African women and was a guest of Germaine Greer on her BBC2 discussion programme 'The Last Word'. She was also a member of the Mayor of London's African and Asian Heritage Commission.

The Black Feminist Bookshop: Against a backdrop of oppression, marginalisation and discrimination, Black women experience mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression at a higher rate than any other ethnic group. The @blackfeministbookshop is a Black queer woman's response to the need for a safe and welcoming space where Black women and girls can explore and discuss literary works that centre and reflect the Black female experience. A radical space of resistance, sisterhood and community for Black women and girls, it will also be a place for everyone who supports the wellbeing of Black women and girls, and is committed to transformative social change - one book at a time.

Black Feminist Week: a week-long event (re)focusing on Black feminism in the UK. Activists, organisers, communities and allies come together to highlight and celebrate Black feminist literature, thought, knowledge and history and to (re)imagine a Black British feminist future.

____________________________

For Black Feminist Week, Housmans is giving a 20% discount on Black feminist books. (See in-store for details). Please bring your pre-loved Black Feminist books to donate to the Black Feminist Bookshop. Books to donate: Black feminist books (and books written by Black women in general), feminist books by women of colour and books by QTIPOC (queer, trans and intersex people of colour). Books written for children and young people of colour of all genders.

**Tickets for the event are £4 + booking fee     OR     £6 + booking fee if you purchase a double event entry ticket which will allow you to also attend the event "What is Black Feminism in Britain?" There is a limited amount of both tickets. Please go here to purchase a double event entry ticket**

Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Imkaan, a UK-based Black feminist organisation dedicated to addressing violence against Black and minoritised women and girls. 

Any Black woman or Black queer person who is unable to pay for a ticket, can email cristina[at]housmans[.]com to be put on the guest list**. 

**NB: you can only be put on the guest list for one event. Spaces are limited.

Follow the Black Feminist Bookshop on Instagram here: @blackfeministbookshop

 Gender inclusion policy:

The Black Feminist Bookshop definition of "women and girls" is trans and intersex inclusive. We welcome all expressions of and identities within Black woman and girlhood. As Black feminists and Black queer feminists, we recognise that all experiences and expressions of womanhood/girlhood are not the same; and we know it is through diversity that we will build communities of resistance.

We are sex worker inclusive.

Accessibility information for Housmans:

The door entrance is wide enough for a wheelchair and has no steps. The event will be held on the ground floor. Seating for the event will be portable plastic hard chairs with backs but no arms. There is a non-accessible toilet inside the shop with 2 steps leading to the back section of the shop then 5 steps to the toilet and a fully wheelchair accessible toilet with handrails in the cafe next door which our event attendees have full use of. Both toilets are gender neutral.

There is no parking nearby.

The address is: Housmans Radical Booksellers, 5 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DY. Kings Cross and St Pancras are the nearest stations and they are both fully accessible. The bookshop is a short distance from a multitude of bus stops. To plan your route, see here: https://tfl.gov.uk/

We are working on getting a BSL interpreter for the events.