Local author Dawn Walker writes at Avid Bookshop’s second Black Girls Reading workshop on April 15 at Avid Bookshop on Prince Avenue. Walker attends events like these to help grow the Athens writing community. “Writing is fundamentally isolating because you have to go inside yourself to produce literature,” Walker said. “But, I wanted to be able to talk and work out my own work and improve it and be able to share what I’ve learned so far with other women and learning with other women, as well.” Photo by Ana Aldridge.
Avid Bookshop partnered with author Nic Stone to host its second Black Girls Reading workshop on April 15.
On the rainy morning of April 15, six Black women came together at Avid Bookshop on 493 Prince Ave. to read, write and discuss. This was the second Black Girls Reading workshop, a series of events meant to highlight Black female authors and creators, and encourage attendees to engage in writing.
Black Girls Reading was co-created by Clarke Central High School junior Amy Kamagate and University of Georgia junior Stephanie Colwell, an intern at Avid Bookshop. This project is close to Kamagate’s heart.
“I was bullied when I was younger for being ‘dark skinned’ and just being Black in general,” Kamagate said. “And I felt like there were other girls out there who were going through the same thing, and I wanted there to be a space where they could come and feel youth and feel empowered and smart.”
When Kamagate shared her ideas with Colwell, Colwell brought the literature component to the equation and provided resources through her internship.
“I’ve always wanted to do a writing workshop, like part of my internship here is to do a semester project, and I really wanted it to be a writing workshop for kids. And Amy came along to me with this ‘cause of like, Black girl self-love and self-worth-type thing,” Colwell said. “So last semester we put together the first Black Girls Reading, which was centered around self-love, and it went really well and I really enjoyed it and hopefully the people who came really enjoyed it.”
Colwell hopes that Black Girls Reading events, open to everyone, will help bridge the gap between two facets of the Athens community.
“I hope to see a lot more interaction between the local Athens-Clarke County population and the college Athens-Clarke County population,” Colwell said. “And this is kind of the meeting of those two things, like last time, we had a couple of college organizations like the National Council of Negro Women and another organization that focused on Black female empowerment.”
The second workshop was led by guest author Nic Stone. Stone led a discussion about internalized oppression and had attendees write and share their experiences. Among attendees was local author Dawn Walker.
“I’ve been in Athens since 1998, but I have yet to see a community of color come together, and I think that this is a wonderful opportunity to be able to be visible and show that there are many writers here,” Walker said. “This event could encourage younger generations to know that they don’t have to go anywhere else outside of their community to get support in their writing.”
Colwell plans on holding Black Girls Reading events once or twice a semester, and hopes the events will lead way towards a more inclusive, united Athens.
“I hope that people in the community, especially the local Black population, know that the wealth of resources that’s in Athens can also be for them, and that the art and the history and stuff like that can also be for them,” Colwell said. “I think the beauty of a workshop like this is that it can keep growing for a long time. I hope the community can shape this for ourselves and the community can really come together.”
