“And it took some faith to do so because when she told people about her idea she was met with nay-sayers telling her ‘Black people in St. Louis don’t read.’”
Growing up as an only child LaParis Hawkins had a lot of time to herself and reading was one of her favorite pastimes. For Hawkins, reading wasn’t just something to do because she was bored – it was truly a treat.
As founder of Books & Bonnets, Hawkins is looking forward to hosting this month’s book club meeting at the St. Louis County Library Florissant Valley branch conference room where she’ll continue her mission to make reading a treat for kids and adults.
“The book club is expanding so much,” Hawkins said. “I’ve always been an avid reader, I’ve always been into literature. It’s your treat for an hour or so for the day.’’
The Books & Bonnets founder wants to provide an escape for bookworms. Her hobby carried her into high school where she was the school’s newspaper and yearbook editor. She attended the University of Missouri to pursue her degree in English. Soon after graduation, she moved to New York where she worked at Essence Magazine in the beauty department.
“Literature has always been a part of my trajectory,” Hawkins said. This month’s read is a steamy hot girl summer manual, ‘ Curvy Girl Summer,’ by Danielle Allen. Readers will see a full picture of Aaliyah, a young woman looking for love before her 30th birthday. Compared to previous book choices for the book club ‘Curvy Girl Summer’ is a little more risque but she’s thrilled to hear everyone’s take on the book.
Hawkins started Books & Bonnets in February of this year looking for her people – bookworms who can get lost in a book for hours. The actual journey that led up to her book club began during the COVID-19 Pandemic when she stepped out on faith and started her business making custom-made bonnets. Her initial plan for Tailored Pieces was to create a community around her brand. Moving back to St. Louis she noticed she wasn’t reading as much as she did in New York. That downshift was likely because she no longer had the one-hour train rides on her daily schedule. She longed to connect to a community that felt like her, that was tailored to her. “So I created Books & Bonnets; it just makes sense,” Hawkins said.
Her willingness to step out on faith wasn’t without nay-sayers who kept telling her that “‘Black people in St. Louis don’t read.’’ But she set that negative noise aside and did what she needed to do to successfully launch Books & Bonnets.
“This is the most fulfilling I’ve felt in the last five years,” said Hawkins. At her book club meetups, women share their personal stories and how they resonated with the characters in the book. Reminiscing back to the beginning of the year, “Every month the book club kept growing and growing,” she said.
Her childhood was filled with books and conversations about Terri McMillan, who Hawkins has met many times. Her mom and aunts read her books, and she remembers the community the famed author’s books brought together. “I remember how much Black women championed her; they felt heard and seen in her books,” she added. “Having a book club is woven into the fabric of who I am today.”
The Books & Bonnets book club founder wants to replicate that same energy for Black women today. Bringing in that same energy includes not policing Black women who wear bonnets. “Black women are so connected to our hair, it’s a right of passage,” she said. She wants to break the negative narrative about bonnets being ghetto. “This is my way of telling people to come as they are. As Black women, we are so used to people policing us that we have started to police other individuals,” she said.
Hawkins hopes Books & Bonnets will continue to grow and she plans to incorporate Black sci-fi authors like Octavia Butler. “I want to explore different genres,” she said. Also, she wants Books & Bonnets to expand into a non-profit to have a program for the St. Louis Public School District, creating a safe space for Black women and girls.
Ashley Winters is a Report for America reporter for the St. Louis American.
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Where do you host your readings?