The hero of this story is a woman who launched Minneapolis' newest Black-owned bookstore

The downtown Minneapolis bookstore that Mary Taris opened is for the little girl on the North Side whose eyes would have lit up had she set foot in such a shop.

More than 50 years ago, that little girl was Taris. Shy and seemingly invisible, she endured chaos at home and struggled with her identity, not even knowing she was Black until middle school.

Books were her solace and her escape. And yet she never saw Black characters in books, nor did she learn about matters that tied in with her life.

"I used to think books saved me," Taris said. "Now I think books let me down, because when I was reading books, I was always wishing to be someone else."

Do children need more Black protagonists? Of course they do, which is why Taris' new bookstore sells titles centering on Black narratives. Her company, Strive Community Publishing and Bookstore, is built on her years of work as a schoolteacher, searching for culturally relevant literature for the youngsters in her classroom in hopes of saturating them with stories reflecting who they are.

She remembers visiting public libraries because the school she taught at didn't have many works about and by African Americans. Most of what she found were historical books about slavery or the civil rights movement.

"There aren't many books that represent Black joy," she said. "We can tell our stories. They can be fun. We need books that bring joy into kids' lives, and adult lives, as well."

Diversity among the characters featured in children's books has been gradually increasing, but the sphere of publishing gatekeepers remains largely homogenous. About 76% of publishing staff, review journal staff and literary agents are white, according to a 2019 diversity baseline study by Lee & Low Books. (Children's books written by Black authors in 2021 jumped three percentage points to about 9% from 2018, according to the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.)

While the Strive bookstore opened last October, Taris launched her publishing company back in 2018, in part to support and elevate Black authors. After the 2020 police murder of George Floyd, she received a surge in submissions.

One came from Anthony Walsh, a law student who was living in Washington, D.C., at the time. (His parents are journalists who work at the Star Tribune.) The knee on Floyd's neck compelled Walsh, who grew up in Edina, to reflect on his own childhood experiences in Minnesota. As someone who was regularly the only Black kid on his hockey teams (he played on Edina High School's 2013 state championship team), Walsh was called the n-word by his opponents, or told to eat a banana.

As he watched the civil unrest unfolding after Floyd's killing from more than 1,000 miles away, "I thought, 'I have to get home to Minneapolis,' " Walsh, 27, recalled. "I just started typing. Next thing you know, I had this manuscript for a children's book."

"Hockey Is for Everybody" features a Black boy named Anthony playing this traditionally white, wealthy sport. While on the ice, Anthony the character hears the same kind of microaggressions as Anthony the author once did. "The basketball court is over there," was one memorable putdown by rival players.

"Those slurs or taunts may seem to a lot of people like not a big deal, but when you're the only one it's directed toward, it makes it a lot harder," Walsh said. "Kids are not born inherently hateful. Kids need to learn that behavior. It's easier to teach kids to be inclusive and to respect people as human beings."

He credits Taris for allowing him to share a story he only wishes he could have read as a child. "Her mission is so important," said Walsh, who now attends Mitchell Hamline and coaches youth hockey. He'll appear at Strive Wednesday for the bookstore's grand opening and sign copies of a limited-edition coloring book.

A troubled childhood

Books distracted Taris from a troubled home life in north Minneapolis. Her mother, who had a developmental disability and mental health challenges, struggled to raise three kids while on welfare. She was white. Taris' father, whom she never knew, was Black — which led to her mother's parents disowning her. Taris said her mother never acknowledged Taris' heritage or her father's family unless it was to say something disparaging.

Her mixed race also became a problem at school, where other children threatened to beat her up.

"It was the 1960s and '70s, and it wasn't acceptable to be biracial," she said.

Still, she dreamed of being a teacher. When she played make-believe with the neighborhood kids, she would always would pretend to be the person standing in front of the classroom — even though Taris says she often felt overlooked by her educators.

"I wondered if I could be a teacher, and if I could notice the kids like me," she said.

It would be a long road to get to that point, though. She had her first child at 16, got married and divorced, and worked clerical jobs to support her family. Only after she landed a gig at Augsburg University and received tuition reimbursement did she finally start her college education. After eight years of weekend school, she graduated and became a teacher at age 40.

Last fall Taris, 58, quietly opened the Strive bookshop in the Sistah Co-op in IDS Center, part of an effort by the Minneapolis Downtown Council to bring more BIPOC- and women-owned businesses to the city's core.

As a publishing company, Strive has put out 10 books so far and has expanded to include adult titles, as well. Taris is hoping to launch a second downtown bookstore next spring.

Maybe one day a bookish, bullied girl will pick up a copy of "Red and the Egg Pie" and find glimmers of validation. It's a story about a kid whose best friend is her granny.

"I never had a grandma. I didn't even know there were grandmas until I got older," Taris said. "To see a book about a Black grandma and a little girl, that would have been perfect for me. To see everyday things from a Black family's perspective would have been joyful, but even informative."

If you go

Strive Community Publishing and Bookstore is hosting a grand opening from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, featuring Anthony Walsh, who wrote "Hockey Is for Everybody."

Starting July 30, a summer series will feature children's book authors every other Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and authors in the adult genre every other Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. starting Aug. 3.

Strive is located in the Sistah Co-op on the second floor of IDS Center, 80 S. 8th St., Minneapolis. Visit strivepublishing.com for more information.