The Garden Abolitionist Bookstore & Community Well
Hello! I’m Joseph Capehart, founder of The Garden Abolitionist Bookstore & Community Well based in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. (IG: @abolitionisagarden) Over the past few years, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to meet and dream alongside Black teachers and artists, youth and elders, community organizers, and business owners about what it means to create “life-affirming institutions.” This bookstore is an attempt to further nurture that conversation within our neighborhood through the medium of Black literature and art.
As one of few Black-owned bookstores in Brooklyn, we’ve made it a point to prioritize stocking political commentary, memoirs, poetry, fiction/fantasy, comics/graphic novels, and children's books written by and for Black people across the diaspora. We’ve also committed to tailoring every event, workshop, and collaboration to the needs and desires of our kin who call Bed-Stuy home, especially those who have historically been on the margins within our communities.
But being an “abolitionist” bookstore means more than just selling books about abolition and political education. It also means organizing through the lens of abolitionist vision and strategy. This has led us to believe that evolving into a “co-op” model would best reflect the goals for the bookstore, offering ownership to the community instead of to an individual.
With the help of mentors and peers in the bookselling industry, legal counsel from lawyers who specialize in cooperative businesses, and the support of our community, we hope to make The Garden a bookstore and community space that Bed-Stuy can be proud of for generations to come.
Please consider donating $50 or more to support us in:
- Securing and renovating a physical location for the bookstore within the next year
- Legal fees related to operating a business
- Inventory & programming
- Supporting my transition to working at the bookstore full-time
But rest assured that any contribution, no matter how big or small, will help us make our vision a reality.
I am endlessly grateful for all of the wonderful love and support we’ve received already over the past year and am so excited for what the future holds as we step into this new season. Thank you for your continued generosity.
With love and power,
Joseph Capehart