Music City Mall Lewisville is home to a new black-owned bookstore, Kindred Creatives Art and Literary Press, with shelves for BIPOC writers and creatives – blacks, indigenous and colored. The bookstore is committed to promoting literacy, creativity and entrepreneurship for children and hopes to launch creative workshops for people of all ages.
The owner, Cicely Carr, quit her job as an English teacher in West Dallas to pursue her dream of opening an independent bookstore dedicated to highlighting the work of BIPOC creatives in a variety of genres. Carr is originally from Minneapolis and arrived in Dallas five years ago.
Carr had always known that entrepreneurship was in their future. The coronavirus has postponed their schedule. “When COVID happened. I just thought, ‘I’m going to stop teaching.’ I was stressed out. My hair fell out, ”she says.
As an author for the Bougie Black Blogger, a website focusing on lifestyle, art, culture and empowerment, she also wanted to devote more time to writing and book reviews for her website.
She got the initial spark for opening the bookstore of her dreams in October 2020 and secured a spot in November.
Before the opening on July 10th, Cicely held events to inspire enthusiasm for the new space. One of their most popular events was Lit Christmas, where books and school supplies were donated for free to children who visited the bookstore. It’s going to be an annual event in the store, she says.
“It was the cutest thing ever – so adorable,” she says. “So I want to do this annually.”
In January, the bookstore Kindred Creatives Art and Literary Press hosted an Author Talk, The State of LIT Author Talk, where eight authors discussed their travels as independent and self-published authors.
Panelists included ReGina Crawford, KC Houston, Amal Black, Hope Oriabure-Hunter, Tiffany Weaver, and Dallas residents, Michael Kelly and Lawrencia Lockhart. The conversation was moderated by Carr and Shaylon Scott, the owners of Book Mecca, an online black bookstore and platform for black literature and black authors.
Cicely selected the Music City Mall Lewisville for her new bookstore because it attracts a diverse audience, including many people of color. She highlighted the growth of other black-owned businesses in the mall.
“It’s nice to see that we support each other, you know. We like to be here because our people shop in the store. We love when other black-owned companies pop up, ”she says.
In the future, Carr hopes to start an after-school social group program to encourage students to take an interest in literature.
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