In Black-Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore, journalist Char Adams makes the compelling case that Black-owned bookstores deserve an exalted place in the history of Black activism in the United States: “For Black people in America,” Adams writes, “the business of bookstores has always been about much more than selling.” Through countless interviews, vignettes, and profiles, Adams traces the history of these essential community spaces and the people behind them. Chief among these are Julian and Raye Richardson of Oakland’s Marcus Books, which Adams rightly calls “one of the most influential Black bookshops in the world.” Litquake is partnering with Marcus Books on this event at Oakland’s Black-owned coffee shop, wine bar, and community gathering space Kinfolx, featuring Char Adams in conversation with writer, librarian, and public historian Dorothy Lazard.

Dorothy Lazard is a local author and public historian best known for her work as the head librarian of the Oakland History Center. She retired from the Oakland Main Library in 2021 after twenty years of service. Her memoir, What You Don’t Know Will Make a Whole New World, published by Heyday in 2023, was shortlisted for a Northern California Book Award for nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in several anthologies, including Oakland Noir, The Public Library: a photographic essay, Go Girl!: The Black Woman’s Book of Travel and Adventure, and Essence Magazine. She is currently at work on her second nonfiction book which examines the changing role of public libraries in our society and their cultural impact on our democracy, due out from Heyday in Fall 2026. Besides writing, Dorothy is involved with a number of local historic preservation efforts.