‘Unapologetically Who We Are’

Sherricka Carpenter Stanley remembers the first time she saw the little Black boy on the book cover, head-to-toe in bright red, standing in a landscape of snow.

“My Uncle Kenny, God rest his soul, always made sure me and my cousin read books that looked like us,” Stanley said. “And the only ones at the time were the Ezra Jack Keats books … And so seeing The Snowy Day changed my life.”

Stanley smiled remembering how her love of reading was fostered from a young age, her mother reading to her as a child.

“I just love, love reading it all,” she said. “It always was able to take me to places that I knew I couldn’t go whether that was fantasy or real-life places.”

In a past life, Stanley lived out her love of words as a teacher. She worked for Guilford County Schools for more than 20 years. She loved her job and raising her three kids, but knew she had other passions she wanted to pursue. Inspired by The Snowy Day, Stanley dreamed of publishing her own children’ s books. Then, a few years before the pandemic, when she read an article about Uncle Bobbie’s, a Black-owned bookstore in Philadelphia, she was brought to tears.

“I said, ‘This is what I want to do,’” Stanley said.

She even told her daughter, who drew a sketch of what her future bookstore might look like. The drawing still hangs in Stanley’s closet.

And in 2021, Stanley’s dream became a reality.

Situated within Ben’s Boyz, a popular soul-food restaurant at Friendly Center, Next Chapter Bookstore and Gift Shop is the city’s only Black-owned traditional bookstore.

“I felt like I was a book sitting on a shelf that had been dog-eared,” she said of how the store’s name came to be. “And now it’s time to take that book off the shelf. It’s time to take it off and turn to the next chapter.”

When Next Chapter opened four years ago, 38 authors agreed to sell their books in the store. Now, the small shop in the front of the restaurant boasts titles from both indie and big-name authors like Nikole Hannah-Jones, James McBride, and Nikki Giovanni. On a small shelf next to the window—next to copies of The Snowy Day—are Stanley’s own creations.

Her first book, I Fit In Just Right, was published in 2020 and tells the story of a little boy and his family through a picture wall in his home. Her second, Through Our Eyes, is a poetic retelling of Kamala Harris’s inauguration as vice president. Her latest, Give Me Some Chin, is a board book for babies.

Next Chapter focuses on books written by Black authors or ones that tell Black stories, especially books for children.

“If a child’s exposure to a Black bookstore and Black ownership is walking through those doors, I’ve done my part,” Stanley said.

At a time when books are banned, DEI initiatives dismantled, and diversity challenged, Stanley said she wants her bookstore to be a safe haven.

“We need, especially now, with the climate that we’re in, to be in community,” she said. “Our mission is to empower through literacy, education, exposure, and entrepreneurship. So we’re going to carry banned books. We’re going to carry books that no one else is. And we’re gonna also be unapologetically who we are.”

The impact has been resounding, she said.

“I’ve had people come in and weep,” she said. “They say it’s like heaven.”

At its core, Black stories are about telling and centering the human experience, Stanley said.

“Not every book is the Black experience,” she said. “Some books are just the experience of life. That’s why I felt like even families that aren’t Black are able to come in and find something and see themselves in it too. A good book does that anyway.”

While the store holds many titles, customers can also place orders for books that aren’t on the shelves; the store ships across the country as well.

As part of its mission of education, Next Chapter hosts events throughout the year including a reading club, author events, and book fairs for students.

“My goal is to be out in the community,” she said.

On April 19, the store will host a ticketed event featuring author Vanessa Miller whose book, The Filling Station, takes place during the Tulsa Massacre.

Some day, Stanley envisions growing out of the Ben’s Boyz space and into her own standalone store. But for now, she wants more people to know about the shop and support each other.

“We’re going to stand and we’re going to be here,” she said. “We’re not going anywhere … We all need safe spaces where we can come and feel we belong, like we matter.”

Sayaka Matsuoka is a Greensboro-based reporter for The Assembly. She was formerly the managing editor for Triad City Beat.

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