Penguin Publishing Group Partners with BLK Book Swap!
On Sunday February 18th, Penguin Publishing Group partnered with BLK Book Swap, a grassroots organization amplifying Black literature, to lead a book swap event in celebration of Black History Month! Sunday’s swap was held at Aunts et Uncles, a Black-owned vegan cafe and concept shop in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Over sixty book lovers poured in to trade books and discover their next reads.
Trae Higgs, Founder, BLK Book Swap.
BLK Book Swap is the brainchild of Trae Higgs, a bookstagrammer who launched the community-based initiative in 2020 out of a desire to share books that she already owned in her home. Cost and accessibility were top of mind, and Higgs wanted to offer books for free to people in her community, especially titles by nonwhite and Queer authors.
Higgs felt further motivated to invest in BLK Book Swap when the Black Lives Matter protests picked up in June of 2020. Since then, she’s led community book swaps all over the city, at small-businesses, cafes, and indie bookstores.
At Aunts et Uncles in Brooklyn.
Sunday’s swap celebrated Storytelling as Resistance, featuring books that educate on the historic and ongoing resistance of Black communities. PPG donated copies of 30 titles, including classics like THE COLOR PURPLE, SISTER OUTSIDER, and THE MIS-EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO, as well as new releases like OURS, LEGACY, and COME AND GET IT.
Our event was featured on Pix 11, where you can learn more about the story behind BLK Book Swap. PPG is looking forward to continuing this partnership and exploring new avenues to reach a diverse community of readers!