Photo of Dr. Kim Parker by Mike Ritter
By Madyline Swearing, Special to the Reporter
Dorchester’s only bookstore, justBook-ish, celebrated its first anniversary on Sat., Nov. 22, after 12 months of offering educational programming, author talks, and other events for the community.
Minutes from the Fields Corner MBTA station, the bookstore cafe was created to serve as a literary “gathering space” for the neighborhood. While justBook-ish operates as a for-profit retailer, it is owned by the nonprofit Words as Worlds, which connects community members with local and national artists and writers through programming such as open mics, story hours, and author talks.
Dr. Kim Parker, who serves as board chair for Words as Worlds, hosts monthly literacy workshops that are aimed at K-12 children and their caregivers and modeled after her book, “Literacy Is Liberation: Working Toward Justice Through Culturally Relevant Teaching.”
Parker has been an educator for more than 20 years, with teaching positions at Codman Academy, New Mission High School, and Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. She serves as the director of Harvard’s Crimson Summer Academy, a three-year college access program for public high school students.
The Reporter spoke with her about justBook-ish and her upcoming literacy events at the store. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Q. With justBook-ish the only bookstore in Dorchester, what would you say it means for the community and its residents to have this space?
A. I think that we completely undervalue particular communities and their reading experiences and rights to literacy. The fact that it’s taken so long is interesting and unacceptable. The work now is to keep it here. Your beliefs are on display when you have an actual bookstore, and you believe that people have a right to practice all of their literacies in this space. There’s never been a better time to be reading.
Q. What is the “Literacy Is Liberation” workshop series?
A. “Literacy Is Liberation” is a four-part series of literacy workshops intended for children in grades K-12 and their caregivers. Each one has a different focus, but the goal is that they’re action-oriented. They give attendees an overview of the [literacy] landscape through culturally relevant and sensitive research, and then what they can do about it. They usually start with some storytelling. We might have some time to practice, and then folks leave with resources, so they can go out and do this work with their own children.
The first one was “Is My Child Reading on Grade Level?” A lot of families think their children are reading at grade level, but we can’t wait on Boston to teach kids to read, because historically, it hasn’t. The other workshop was about picture books.
My collaborator, Nicholl Montgomery, and I seek to be in community with folks to help them ask the hard questions, advocate for their children, insist that their children be reading at grade level, and then be part of a community.
Q. How does your identity and your history as a researcher influence how you curate these events?
A. We are researchers, we are scholar practitioners, and we have our own children who we are deeply concerned about. Nicholl and I have been teaching for years, and we’ve had a lot of success with particular populations that people want to disparage: boys, Black boys, Brown boys, kids who might have [Individualized Education Programs], all the kids who people say don’t have a right to have strong reading lives. It’s always been personal for me. We’re invested in making sure the kids have the literacy lives they deserve.
Q. Why are these workshops so important for this particular age group and specific racial and gender demographics?
A. In terms of literacy instruction, particularly in city schools, if it’s focusing on kids at all, it’s for remedial instruction, or it’s for K-3. A lot of the instruction teachers are using is not current, it’s not research-backed, and it’s not appropriate for kids. If we want to complain about why boys can’t read, and we do nothing, then that’s the problem. We can do so much.
What we’re hoping to do in these workshops is at least give people actionable steps that will enable them to do something different. If the district has failed them, which they have continued to do, then that’s what we’re working with. We believe our work is for people who want their children to be strong readers, and we know that they’re out there.
Q. Could you tell me about the upcoming Family Reading time and Black and Latino Boys Middle Grade and High School Readers events?
A. The event coming up [Sat., Dec. 13] is about boys. How do we engage Black, Latino and other boys around literacy? Then the last one on [Sat., Jan. 10] is about family literacy. How do we create practices so families can routinely practice all of their literacies in ways that are empowering and get kids to love reading?
We will have translation services, but people need to sign up in advance. There is strong encouragement to RSVP. It’s okay if people want to attend one or the other — they’re not all built on each other.
This story is part of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
