JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local lawmaker is taking a stand against the book bans happening across the state.
State Rep. Angie Nixon recently opened Cafe Resistance in Northwest Jacksonville to make sure Black history isn’t forgotten.
The bookstore is on Soutel Drive and has a mission to counter the scaled-back teaching of Black history in local schools and the effort to limit diversity.
The cafe serves up coffee and light bites, along with untold stories of the Black experience.
“It’s really frustrating to see that there are some elected officials in power that want to keep true and accurate history away from folks and really trying to suppress that. It’s going to continue to happen because there are some folks who just want to remain in power and control and want to just keep us lost and uneducated,” Nixon said.
Families can see titles from a wide range of authors, from Toni Morrison to James Baldwin.
“In addition to the inaccurate teaching of African American and Black history in our schools across Florida and Florida’s public schools it’s just in response to that and also the fact that we don’t really have a place to gather or a bookstore or a coffee shop located in Northwest Jacksonville. We wanted to have a community space,” she said.
Nixon said Cafe Resistance is a place to foster conversations, through book clubs, poetry nights and even a place to raise awareness surrounding issues like mental health.
Another focus of hers is addressing literacy rates in Duval County.
“It’s also in response to, unfortunately, the lower literacy rates in our area. I can’t be an advocate for helping the community if I don’t do stuff myself and so I wanted to open up this place so that we can get some of these children and students on grade level,” Nixon said.
Marie McCauley stopped by and bought a few books to add to her collection.
“I am a big supporter of small independent booksellers,” she said. “I also think this is a great bookstore to get books into the community where other organizations are trying to stop what I call true history.”
As an author herself, Nixon remembered writing a book with her daughter to empower her with the confidence of wearing her natural hair.
She said she hopes customers who stop by feel empowered as well.
“I just want them to take in that Black is beautiful, brown is beautiful, and the fact that this is our space. It’s not just my space. This is our community’s space and that they should feel welcome, they should feel at home,” Nixon said. “They should feel safe. They should have fun, get educated and learn to engage with other people.”
Cafe Resistance is open daily, but the hours vary.
There are also several bookshelves with free books from diverse authors for children and adults.