HYDE PARK — A Black-woman-owned bookshop highlighting authors of color has reached a major fundraising milestone and is on track to open a Hyde Park-area store in a few months, its owner said.
Call and Response Books is owned by Courtney Bledsoe, who has held pop-up shops at venues like the Chicago Art Department and the Hyde Park Farmers Market as she prepares to open a permanent location.
The bookstore will offer literature and nonfiction for all ages written by Black authors and other authors of color. Author talks, open mics, trivia nights, coffee and tea services and other community-oriented events are planned for the space, Bledsoe said.
The store reached its $5,000 goal last week to help pay for renovations, equipment, inventory and other expenses needed to open on the South Side. To donate to the shop’s GoFundMe, click here.
Call and Response’s location has not yet been finalized, but Bledsoe has narrowed her search to Hyde Park or Kenwood, she said.
“I view Hyde Park as a kind of a cultural center. I love the fact that if you go to a chamber of commerce meeting, or any of the places here, it is a strong Black community,” Bledsoe said. “There are so many Black-owned businesses and businesses run by other people of color.
“Having a kind of space [amplifying] books that center people of color, that center Black people, really falls in line with what’s going on in Hyde Park right now.”
Bledsoe was an avid reader as a child, to the point where one might have even caught her walking across the street with her nose in a book, she said.
Most books Bledsoe read growing up were by white authors, which is “not necessarily bad, but it does something to your imagination as a kid to have that kind of limitation,” she said.
Even as a “renaissance” in literature has led more writers of color to be spotlighted, it can still be hard to find spaces that center their books, Bledsoe said. She’s worked to fill that gap online since 2021 as the Busy Black Bookworm.
“Oftentimes, I’ll try to spotlight debut authors who are just not given as much attention as the New York Times bestsellers,” Bledsoe said.
Bledsoe has dreamed of opening Call and Response for several years, since she was in law school, she said. She ramped up her efforts to open the bookstore in 2022 and has since held pop-up bookshops in local spaces owned by people of color.
The concept complements the work of likeminded literacy lovers on the South Side, including Da Book Joint, Brown Books and Paintbrushes, Burst Into Books and Rose Café, Bledsoe said.
Existing Black booksellers allow Bledsoe “to see how people are operating, how they’re thriving in this way [and] some of their struggles,” she said. “I’ve felt really encouraged, for sure. It’s never felt competitive — it’s a ‘rising tide raises all ships’ kind of situation. We’re striving to uplift Black people and people of color in this area, and that’s a goal we can all work toward together.”
Beyond book sales, Call and Response will serve as a “third place” — a “warm and welcoming place to help people connect with each other,” Bledsoe said. She plans to host events at the space which allow South Side youth and artists of all types to “feel comfortable sharing themselves and being creative,” she said.
Bledsoe is excited to open this year,and continue introducing neighbors to new books and authors of color, she said.
“I’m hoping to have a space where if someone comes in looking for a book — or even [if they haven’t] been a big reader and are looking to change that — I can say, ‘Oh, if you like this kind of movie, you might like this type of book,'” Bledsoe said.
Call and Response “can offer personal recommendations that a place like Amazon won’t be able to do,” she said. “Taking what you’re interested in and saying, ‘I might have the book just for you,’ is something really important for independent bookseller spaces.”
To follow Call and Response on Instagram, click here. To shop the store’s website, click here.
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