Before there was “Book-Tok,” there was Troy Jonson, curating a website called the African American Literature Book Club.

Through more than two decades running the site, Johnson has seen a surge of growth in books written for and by Black readers. Though he’s also written about a decline in the number of Black-owned independent bookstores.

Since 2021, at least three Black-owned bookstores have opened in North Carolina, including Langston Miller and Victoria Scott-Miller’s Liberation Station in downtown Raleigh.

A conversation about reading, and representation, on Due South.

Guests

Troy Johnson, founder African American Literature Book Club

Victoria Scott-Miller, co-founderLiberation Station book store

Langston Miller, co-founder Liberation Station