‘Like I belong’: how a California bookshop became a safe space for Black readers

The Salt Eaters Bookshop centers culture and community in every element, quickly becoming a literary haven for its patrons

Asha Grant sits on a church pew near a table covered in vintage magazines. In the months leading up to the opening of the Salt Eaters Bookshop, she sourced the pew online from a soon-to-be shuttered church and the coffee table belonged to her grandmother.

Grant says she wanted the Inglewood, California, bookstore to be imbued with a sense of home and inclusion. Bright pink wallpaper with a pattern of Zora Neale Hurston adds a pop of color, and upon entering, there’s a mirror with photos of Grant’s maternal grandmother and great-aunt. A quilt draped behind the pew was a community project and allowed people to donate denim and stitch it together.