For much of her childhood, Rosalyn Coates endured severe asthma. Confined to limited physical activity, she had to swap galloping with neighborhood kids for a seat on the porch.<\/p>\n
But never alone, Coates, called \u201cRoz\u201d by friends, always invited her trusty companion: a good book. \u201cAll I could do is sit my buns still and read.\u201d<\/p>\n
So began the literary journey for Coates, 71, a retired attorney and **Oracle Set Book Club**<\/a> member who helped incorporate the group\u2019s nonprofit foundation, which has awarded annual scholarships to Washington, D.C., school students since 1999.<\/p>\n Touted as the oldest continuously operating Black women\u2019s literary circle in Washington, D.C., Oracle Set was launched in 1966 by Claudette Franklin, a passionate literacy advocate who assembled the original 15 members and remained active until her death in 1996. Two founding members, Bernadette Derr and Maggalean Westin, remain active six decades later.<\/p>\n Today, members range in age from mid-30s to 80 and are capped at 18 members. Like most Black women reading circles, they traverse genres and hold rotating meetings at members\u2019 homes, with good food and fellowship always on the menu.<\/p>\n A slice of joy and community, Oracle Set inspires self-determination, says Coates. \u201cMore than coming together to read, we affirm who we are through _what_ we read. We don\u2019t wait for _The New York Times_ best sellers list to tell us what to choose. Our group opens us, not just to reading, but to the world that books inhabit.\u201d<\/p>\n That same premise \u2014 radical and pioneering for their time \u2014 was embraced by one of the first recorded Black women\u2019s reading groups. **The Female Literary Association**<\/a>, founded by educator **Sara Mapps Douglas**<\/a> in 1831, was based in Philadelphia and composed of \u201cfree\u201d literate Black women.<\/p>\n Mostly leaders in the anti-slavery and suffrage movements, they were avid readers, writers and activists. They shared their own essays with the reading circle and delved into scripture, poetry and abolitionist journals. As the 19th century progressed into post-slavery emancipation, mutual aid for southern sisters and their kin was a hallmark activity of these literary circles, often called women\u2019s clubs. Black women\u2019s literary clubs would blossom over the decades that followed, taking root in Detroit, New York, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n Kathy Freeman says those bold intentions of ancestors dating back two centuries remain in our bones. Leader of A Gathering of Women Readers in Philadelphia, she says Black women have instinctively embraced the causes of family, community and the world.<\/p>\n \u201cFor women who look like me, book clubs are built upon collective actions. While everyone isn\u2019t left-leaning, we are all humanists.\u201d<\/p>\n Black women\u2019s literary circles rebuke patriarchy, Freeman asserts. \u201cThough we are the backbone of every movement we support \u2013 the church, civil rights, Black liberation \u2013 we usually go unrecognized. But in our book clubs everyone has a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n Freeman\u2019s group has supported medical drives for Cuba, clothing drives for Senegal, local book drives and summer camp for the city\u2019s unhoused population. They host guest speakers from Philly and beyond. One, a few years before the assaults in Gaza, was Palestinian-American activist\/author Susan Abulhawa.<\/p>\n Freeman, 69, a \u201chappily retired\u201d program analyst for the Philadelphia Health Department, started the reading group eight years ago. They gather quarterly, 13 strong, with two books for discussion and always open with wellness check-ins.<\/p>\n Most active in-person clubs skew older. However, the mix is intergenerational and convened online, by sororities, churches, social clubs and even celebrities (Oprah Book Club).<\/p>\n Monique Greenwood, Co-founder of**Go On Girl Book Club**<\/a> (GOGBC), points to the sense of belonging that book clubs invoke. She remembers 1991, when her two friends, Tracy Mitchell-Brown and Lynda Johnson, were engrossed in chats about a book they were both coincidentally reading, _No Easy Place to Be,_ a debut novel by Steven Corbin about the Harlem Renaissance.<\/p>\n \u201cI was feeling very left out\u2026and wanted to be part of what seemed like a really important fellowship.\u201d From there, the trio planted the seeds of Go On Girl Book Club.<\/p>\n Greenwood, 67, former editor-in-chief of _Essence_ and now owner of Akwaaba Bed and Breakfast Inns, anchored the first group in New York City. \u201cWe were casually structured, guided by some important criteria. Our membership was capped at 12 to coincide with the months we would meet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReading and reflection of the books served merely as a jumping-off point to share and exchange ideas; to hear each other\u2019s voices,\u201d Greenwood offered.<\/p>\n As members relocated, some carried the model with them, starting new chapters in other cities. Today, one of the nation\u2019s largest in-person literary circles, Go On Girl claims 51 chapters and more than 500 members across the country. They hold an annual conference, distribute merchandise, and in 1999, wrote the book on book clubs.<\/p>\n The _Go On Girl! Book Club Guide for Reading Groups_<\/a>, authored by the three founders, is a roadmap for starting, structuring and sustaining a successful literary circle, featuring reading lists, author chats and discussion questions.<\/p>\n Joyce Ferguson-Fleming and her D.C.-based Sister Girls Book Club recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. Ferguson-Fleming, 77, a voracious lifelong reader, was filling a void left by her daughter\u2019s departure for college. She was not necessarily looking for new friends, but instead was mission-driven to assemble like-minded Black women.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal was simple \u2014 a book club where everyone was invested in reading.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t come together as best friends, but as book lovers.\u201d<\/p>\n Founder Ferguson-Fleming was joined for an interview with original members Lisa Griffith and Shelly Jackson.<\/p>\n Griffith, 71, said the idea of a book club was kicked around for at least two years. \u201cOne day Joyce set a date and time, and we started with eight members.\u201d Over the 25 years, members have come and gone, but most have been with the book club for 15 years or more.<\/p>\n Said Jackson, \u201cJoyce actually used our workplace \u2014 the DC Municipal Court \u2014 as her recruitment ground.\u201d\u00a0 Jackson, 64, a probation officer, said members included attorneys, administrators, clerks, and social workers. \u201cWe were all open to wide genres and themes, different perspectives, honest discussions. \u2026 No one judging you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe feed each other,\u201d adds Griffith, a retired court reporter.\u00a0 \u201cWe lay out food, ideas, and nourish each other emotionally and spiritually\u2026We go places I wouldn\u2019t go on my own. Through Sister Girls, I am exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the decades they\u2019ve enjoyed field trips, celebrated milestone birthdays, mourned the passing of members\u2019 loved ones and cheered the birth of grandbabies. \u201cWe\u2019ve grown from a reading circle to a sisterhood,\u201d confides Ferguson-Fleming.<\/p>\n The legions of Black women book club members tell a bigger story in data released by Pew Research Center in 2014<\/a> exploring reading habits of Americans. Pew found that women across races and socioeconomic statuses read considerably more than their male counterparts. But Black women, especially college-educated, read the most, surpassing _all_ demographic groups in consumption of every book format \u2014 bound, audiobooks and e-books.<\/p>\n Curtis Bunn,\u00a0a retired journalist and author of 14 books, attests to the Pew findings. \u201cBlack women absorb passion more than any other demographic group.\u201d<\/p>\n Even before his 1999 debut novel _Baggage Check_<\/a> hit #1 on the _Essence_ Book List, Bunn embraced the word-of-mouth magic of Black women readers and embarked on speaking tours to book clubs across the country.\u00a0\u201cI always left those book clubs feeling uplifted. It was like going to church,\u201d recalls Bunn, 65. \u201cYou get feedback that makes you a better writer.\u201d<\/p>\n That feeling of being \u201cimmersed in a sustained happy hour\u201d convinced Bunn to launch **The National Book Club Conference** in 2003<\/a>. Nicknamed \u201cLiterary Bliss Weekend,\u201d he marked the 22nd anniversary this year. Held in Atlanta and attended by some 400 primarily Black women (95%), conferees pay $350 for a series of general sessions, an awards event and breakout workshops attended by prominent authors and public luminaries.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the first conference I was in tears most of the weekend,\u201d Bunn remembers. \u201cThe camaraderie, energy and joy made everyone feel they were where they were supposed to be. It\u2019s more than meeting the author and other book club members. It\u2019s an immersive experience!\u201d<\/p>\n As technology changed how readers connect, Black women\u2019s literary communities expanded beyond in-person living rooms. Glory Edim, 44,\u00a0targeted a massive online community, appealing to younger Black women with **Well-Read Black Girl**<\/a> in 2015. The online platform and book club, fueled by social media, claims more than 400,000 followers dedicated to celebrating the works of Black women authors. Well-Read also sponsors local in-person chapters across the country., hosting book festivals, a podcast and author conversations.<\/p>\n An _Essence_ article about Well-Read Black Girl inspired Kodee Brown, 35, to start a group in Greenville, South Carolina, in 2019. Working with an independent bookstore as the bookseller and venue host, Brown put out the call for members. Surprisingly, many showed up, including several White women.<\/p>\n \u201cOur invitation emphasized everyone was welcome. but we were clear our focus was on Black women authors and the Black experience,\u201d explains Brown. \u201cSome of the White women came genuinely to connect as allies, others out of curiosity.\u201d<\/p>\n Eventually, when membership was capped at 15, about three White women remained. At times, Brown believed the racial mix made conversations challenging and members often censored themselves. During her facilitation of the group, she worked hard to create a safe space.<\/p>\n The Greenville group, composed mostly of Black women, continues. After two years in leadership, Brown relocated to Charleston and\u00a0stepped down, responding to the busy demands of her nursing career,\u00a0 an advanced degree and eventually motherhood.<\/p>\n Now the mom of 4-year-old twins, Brown says she has passed on the passion for books to her girls. \u201cFrom the time they were infants, we read to them. They could read before they could walk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe book club was a time of joy,\u201d Brown recalls. \u201cI gained friends who have remained steadfast to this day. In those book groups we could hear each other.\u201d<\/p>\n