#WeAreSouthQueens - Fayola Fair
About Fayola Fair
Fayola is from South Queens, specifically Rochdale Village but she lived in the Bronx for the first 3 years of life. Fayola attended Lafayette College where she studied anthropology and sociology. She is a teacher for 9th & 10th grade social studies at a NYC Public High School on the Lower East Side. Fayola is also a community activist through South Queens Women’s March and other mutual aid organizations like Jamaica Community Fridge. Fayola is the founder of Reading For Black Lives.
What Inspired You To Start Reading For Black Lives?
“My dad used to sell books when I was a child. I always had a strong love of books. It can be easy to burn out as an activist if you’re not doing work that feels aligned with your skills and resources. In my case, that’s books and education. Reading For Black Lives started around June 2020 when COVID first made its appearance. I had just graduated from college the year before. In college, I did a lot of activism around diversity and inclusion, advocating for marginalized lives, staff diversity and resources for students and more…”
“Once I graduated, I returned to NYC. Going from a college campus of just 2500 people and then coming back to a huge city that has a lot of concerns and thinking about racism, classism, anti-blackness - I felt overwhelmed and wanted to figure out how to do activist work. There’s so many types of activism. Reading For Black Lives came out of the uprising in summer 2020 when I started to do more research around black police brutality.”
“So I started by creating book lists, and then I was thinking about the fact that Instagram isn’t the most accessible platform for folks, and not everyone has access to books. I thought of providing more tangible resources. I actually applied for a mini grant in order to provide books from black book stores and send them to black folks directly. I also did fundraising to purchase books; books selected by black authors and have the knowledge within to think about liberation.”
What Is One Story That Happened During The Course Of Your Work That You Will Never Forget?
“The Community Book Fair was my goal for 2021. I was able to send out over 185 books to folks in over 25 different states. Fundraising and following through was really dope and affirming. People on Instagram world dm me to express thanks but the in-person event at Rufus King Park and giving back to the community that made me into the person I am today was very moving.”
What Are Your Goals For The Future?
“Publishers have so many books and resources. I want to have more sustainable forms for receiving books; highlighting black authors and authors of color. When people donate books they don’t have an abundance of books by authors of color so I’m looking for a more sustainable pipeline that includes high quality new books by authors of color. I would love to continue overall to have a bookstore in a community space - maybe in the next 10-15 years. I would love to have one in Jamaica or Queens in general. There aren’t many independent bookstores in Queens; marking space and having a home base comes with more freedom and flexibility.”
