Juneteenth Literacy Celebration

Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Have Their Say

Juneteenth is coming up and we have two community superstars who want to make sure literacy is part of the celebration by making sure our people have a choice in both the books they read and where and who they purchase from.

Guest host Rodrigo Bravo Jr. welcomes two book barons who are changing lives one page at a time. At a moment in time where our books are being marginalized, discouraged, even banned, it’s crucial we support these book traffickers to ensure we continue our self determination in our education, just as Tony Díaz @librotraficante says, “our terms on our terms”.

CLASS Bookstore is a Black-owned and family operated online/ mobile/ brick-and-mortar retailer based in Houston, TX.
Founded by co-owners and married couple, David & Dara Landry in November 2020, they began their business as an online bookstore, operating out of their apartment. January 2021- December 2022 were the years of participating in pop-up markets throughout the cities of Houston and Austin, TX. On December 3, 2022, they opened the brick-and-mortar shop, called "The Residency" at 3803 Sampson St., 77004 (just outside of the campus of Texas Southern University).

Jesus A. Cosme is a book seller & owner of King Abel's King Abel's. Prior to selling books, Cosme sold handmade jewelry, accessories & apparel under the name of "Jes Co's Designs". He designed "King Abel" circa 2018 and it was then, that he decided to change the direction he was going business wise & started selling books.
Since then he’s been advocating for literacy & history, primarily Latin & African American history. The majority of the books he sells revolve around that, culture & history. He sells books for all ages & anyone curious/interested enough to learn history outside of what's taught in school. The books he sells are for a minimum of $5 donation. The goal is not to get rich from selling books, although profit IS nice, but to strive primarily to promote literacy & educate as many people as possible.

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program.
In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation.
When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona.

He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing.

* This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast.
* Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com.
* Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began.
* Live events.

Thanks to
Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer
Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer
Radame Ortiez, SEO Director
Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer
Leti Lopez, Music Director
Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus
Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus
Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital.

www.Librotraficante.com
www.NuestraPalabra.org
www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records
Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com