Book clubs are for connecting socially, but some black-centered book clubs are interested in community and political acts. Book clubs like the Noname Book club goal is making political and social education accessible to people of color. Shakira King, the project manager of the Noname book club named by the rapper Noname in 2019, wants to focus on books about the revolution and political theory and talking about generations of political and info about gatekeeping Black people have faced. Another book club called Well-Read Black Girl (WRBG) has been doing the same thing since 2015, featuring Black and Brown protagonists as well as authors of color. The founder is Glory Edim, who sought community and took matters into her own hands when she noticed herself struggling with a lot of book-driven conversations. 
This book club started as a reading list on IG and grew into a literary arts movement with over 400,000 online members and an annual festival this weekend. Each month WRBG brings together Black women across the world with their 150 chapters to reign the voices of women of color nationwide and to highlight famous writers of color. The book club is more than a monthly book club meeting, a gathering, a safe healing space, and a monthly ritual where people of color can be seen, known, and heard. One of the chapter leaders from Portland stated that joining helped transform her self-image.
Since 2015, Black-centered book communities like Black Girls Read Too, Black Girls Lit, and the Black Feminist Book Mobile thrived across the country, making it their mission to create a space for authors of colors a part of a broader literacy. This year for the virtual edition of the WRBG festival kicking off Friday. The annual festival brings together readers and writers to unite in conversations about publishing, politics, and pop culture. The theme for this year is Black Political Power: Past and Present. Panelists include authors like Tiffany Jackson, Mahogany L. Browne, Morgan Parker, and Mikki Kendall. Poet Nikki Giovanni will be the keynote speaker.
Patrice Rivers is a 9x published author who loves to write and read. She is currently a freelance writer for several publications as well as a certified journalist where being a media mogul influencer is very important to her. Patrice is also the creator and owner of That Riverz Gurl Brand LLC. Learn more by visiting her website at http://www.thatriverzgurlbrandllc.com
