Rapper Noname opens Radical Hood Library in Los Angeles
The Chicago rapper founded the book club focused on texts from authors of color in 2019.
After several months of construction, rapper Noname finally opened up her Radical Hood Library.
“We are so excited to finally open our Radical Hood Library!” read a Thursday Twitter post from the Noname Book Club account. “This is a black-led organization that was created to service black/brown folks and the RSVP prioritization will reflect that. There will be music, free food, and more! Please bring a new or used book. See you there!!!”
In the summer of 2019, the entertainer and activist started an incredibly popular book club that made headlines. This new venue space, which opened its doors on Saturday in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, was created to be a physical meeting space for that group while also serving the community.
The Chicago-native also shared on her social media account the unorthodox but completely on-brand way the sections of the library have been organized based on pro-Black categories, ranging from imperialism and revolution to global Black resistance.
NoName, born Fatimah Nyeema Warner, shared with her followers that her personal favorite part of the library is the “F*ck The Police” section, which features “abolitionist text,” as well as another part of the library called “Black Capitalism Won’t Save Us.”
There are also less controversial areas of the library, including the children’s section, which has been affectionally named “Young Homies Books.”
To keep this space and the movement behind it going, the general public is encouraged to donate books to the library and the organization. Through their Prison Chapter initiative, Radical Hood Library has even committed to sending books to the loved ones of incarcerated participants.
In September, Noname took to her social media to reflect on the growth of the book club over the last year while the world grappled with the uncertainty of a global pandemic juxtaposed against the uprisings in the wake of the George Floyd murder.
“I can’t believe how far we’ve come in only a few months,” she wrote on Instagram. “In April we were sending 44 books a month and now we are sending 611 books a month [to prisons]. It’s crazy to see how books that helped me grow politically are inspiring growth in others.”
For those looking to support The Radical Hood Library and its mission to continue educating the community through reading, the organization is accepting donations via its official Patreon page.
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