After radical education turned her world upside down, rapper Noname knew she wanted others to taste that same liberation. Only a few years later, Los Angeles’ new Radical Hood Library was born in October 2021.
It’s got the hook-up white libraries don’t! And she’s taking the power of Black books to the next level, too.
Noname’s mother opened an Afrocentric bookstore back in the day. She’s following that legacy by making education free – sending books to people incarcerated in prisons, where Black books are often banned. They ship 1,000 books out monthly!
Libraries also aren’t just buildings full of books. They provide critical free resources for unhoused people, children, and low-income families – like computer access, air conditioning, food, and classes!
But Noname didn’t do it alone.
She used to think that if only she had more resources, she could “build free radical libraries in every hood across the country.” But she realized that was “individualist thinking [rooted] in capitalism.” She had community.
“[I] can’t and didn’t build it alone. [I]t takes community solidarity,” she Tweeted.
Black radical libraries and bookstores have always been cornerstones of liberation movements – so the U.S. government has historically made every effort to shut them down! When we reject white supremacy and take ownership of our own political education, we become one step closer to freedom.