Local bookseller uses Juneteenth to raise awareness of African American books, authors

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) – On Sunday, Tonisha Kimble is using Juneteenth weekend to bring attention to African American-rooted literature.

“I did have a physical space in Gulfport for about a year and some change, but I closed that, and now I’m back to just being mobile and doing events along the Gulf Coast,” said Kimble.

All during Juneteenth weekend, Kimble could be found highlighting African American writers and books at events during a time that she holds dear.

“We want to highlight those types of books, especially in this day and age of book bans and things like that. We feel that it’s important to celebrate authors and books that may not get the attention they need,” said Kimble. “With Mississippi being one of the blackest states, there’s not a lot of booksellers in the state. And even today in 2024, people come up and say, ‘I’m so glad to see you and I’m so glad there are still books out there that I didn’t know of.’ I still want my kids to get into reading and I want my kids to see themselves in literature, so it’s always important for me to celebrate that and to help people find their next book.”

Kimble says Juneteenth is a special holiday for her because it represents freedom. In the spirit of the holiday, she wants to give people the freedom to find their next adventure.

“Part of those freedoms we have as African Americans is the freedom to read. literally it was illegal to read at one point and now we have the freedom to read, the freedom to go to the bookstores and all types of places and you can write books and stuff like that,” said Kimble. “I’m here to show people there are books with them in it and even in the age of social media and things like that people are still reading. Sometimes you need somebody to show you the different types of books that are out there and may end up falling in love with the reading.”

Kimble says she will continue to sell her books at any event she attends.

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