A Minneapolis Black-owned publishing company works to get more voices of color on the printed page

Minneapolis book publisher Mary Taris is on a mission.

“There’s a huge learning curve,” she says. “I love to read, but at a certain point you want to see yourself represented. You want to be able to connect with stories.”

Her plan: to get more Black voices onto the printed page.

“It’s going to take a collective effort, but I believe we can work together,” she explains. “Make it just as accessible for Black children to see themselves on a bookshelf, in a book, at a bookstore, as it is for anybody else.”

In 2018, Taris retired from teaching, in Minneapolis and Robbinsdale, to launch Strive Publishing.

The volumes filling the shelves in her new bookstore space represent two goals: more representation of Black authors, and the release of more culturally representative children’s books — where young readers can see characters that look like them.

“I think it validates them as a person and it validates the community that they come from,” Taris notes. “Books by and about Black people will help break down stereotypes that our society has created about Black people.”

Taris introduced us to several authors who have works in her store in the IDS Center, located in the Chameleon Consortium, a co-op for entrepreneurs of color.   

Among them is Donna Gingery, a Robbinsdale special education teacher.  

“That was one of my goals, to make sure that kids could see people like themselves — but not in a situation, just being kids,” Gingery says.

Her first book is called “Red and the Egg Pie” — the adventures of a little girl, whose grandmother is her best friend.

We asked Gingery if her book has the potential to change a child’s life.

“I think so, because not just African-American kids will see it, but all the nationalities would see it,” she notes. “I think that’s the most important part. It represents a culture that some might not know as well.”

After the murder of George Floyd, Taris decided she wanted to publish books for adults readers.

Authors of color, who could share their life experiences.

“With the murder of George Floyd, we got so many inquiries and submissions from Black people who just wanted to be heard to tell their stories,” Taris recalls. “That’s why we ended up moving into the adult genre, so people call tell their life stories. Let them be in the history of the Twin Cities, be an inspiration for the next generation.”

Among those adult authors is Kevin Jenkins, who wrote about his victory over kidney disease — twenty years and counting.

“When I was coming up, we didn’t see too many people who looked like me,” he says. “That’s why books are so important, that’s why the things we’re today is so important, to leave us a legacy for those who are coming behind us.”

Both Gingery and Jenkins say they’ve got new projects in the works.

She’s started editing a book about kids using common sense in life.

He’s hoping to profile other people battling serious illnesses.

As for Taris, she’s looking forward, with plans to introduce many more Black authors, especially of children’s books, at community events starting the end of this month.

“I really hope it’s a long-lasting company that will be here long after I’m gone,” she says. “That can be a legacy for my children, as well as for the community.”

You can find out more about Strive Publishing here.