Establish Uncle Skip's Books and Beignets

Uncle Skip’s Books and Beignets is an emerging independent, Black woman-owned bookstore café in the Atlanta, Georgia area highlighting books written by Black and brown authors.

 

Before his transition in 2011, our beloved Uncle Skip existed on earth as a strong Black scholar, with the undying belief that the written work of Black and brown people was essential to our collective joy, understanding of our identity, and liberation. We, his legacy, affirm and agree with his belief. We are here to create a curated space of books, drinks, and beignets that will allow you to indulge in literature while feeding your soul.

 

The humbled owner of Uncle Skip’s Books and Beignets is his daughter. Her fondest memories with our beloved Uncle Skip take us to New Orleans, where they would toast their beignets together while adoring rich music, with beads adorned around their necks. While there, they would visit family, and their love for New Orleans grew. The family desires to transcend this happiness in a brick-and-mortar space.

 

We want this space to feel like freedom.

 

We want this space to exist for you,

the healing

the wanderer

the grounded

the happy

the explorer

the rooted

the oppressed

the creative

the radical

the activist

the loved

the ally

the liberated

the joyful

the silenced

the seen

the privileged

the unseen

the scholar

the bookworm

the learner

 

We want this space to be here for everything you are and everything we can support you to become.

 

With your help, we will exist forever. In all rights and glory, unapologetically.

 

Ankh Wedja Seneb

Life, Prosperity, Health

 

With Deep Appreciation,

Your Fondest Cousin Forever Connected Through Uncle Skip

 

Estimated Start-Up Cost:

 

*Monthly Rent: $2,500 x 12 months= $30,000

Utilities + Misc. Repair Reserve x 12 months = $5,000

Renovation/ build-out cost: $25,000

External + Internal signs and furnishings= $4,000

Advertising + Marketing= $1,000

Supplies (consumable products and books) = $10,000

Operating expenses: $10,000

Total- $85,000

Stay tuned to our Instagram page @uncleskips for updates on our progress, engaging events, and additional ways to support us.

 

Thank you in advance for your grace and understanding of our call for financial support, your non-monetary expressions of support, and your good energy. 

 

Reader's Delight Below-

 

About the organizer/Founder & Owner:

 

Jasmyne King (she/her) is the visionary behind Uncle Skip's Books and Beignets. As the Founder and Owner, Jasmyne is considered a fierce narrative disruptor with an intersectional and equity lens who centers Black joy and liberation. Jasmyne has the keen ability to draw upon her lived experiences to discuss ancestral significance, its impact and the seriousness of trauma-informed care.

 

Jasmyne is skilled at finding innovative ways to activate Black communities for liberation and racial healing. She has an undying love for literature that spans all genres. She praises her father, the late Dr. Leophus Shakespeare King Jr. (Uncle Skip), for her love of written words. Growing up, she watched Uncle Skip obtain his doctoral degree. Throughout that process, he would read his papers a loud and ask Jasmyne to join him when he took his papers to the typist for dictation. Uncle Skip could talk about any and everything! Her desire is to establish a trusted space and sustain an establishment that will be around for generations to come.

 

As a mother to 4 children, Jasmyne has engrossed herself in increasing awareness around equity, Black joy, and being in a collective beloved community. At every turn, you will consider Jasmyne to be deeply passionate, authentic, and knowledgeable, possessing the ability to meet everyone where they are. She is unwavering in her journey to unpack, heal, and liberate.

 

Secondary to Jasmyne’s life experience is her colonial collegiate education. Jasmyne is an alumna of Millersville University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech Communications: Public Relations.

 

We are most proud of Jasmyne’s newest venture, Uncle Skip’s Books and Beignets, a bookstore café solely featuring Black and brown authors. Uncle Skip’s Books and Beignets is an entire experience for radical love, community, and liberation. As Jasmyne pours herself into opening a brick-and-mortar location, we know this space will create extreme opportunity upon the opportunity for generations to come.

 

Jasmyne’s foundational Quote is “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” Audre Lorde