“This story is being reprinted in Texas Metro News as part of a partnership with The Dallas Morning News.”
Owned by two sisters, The Dock Bookshop has served as a community space for the past 12 years.
By Zayna Syed
Dallas Morning News Writer
FORT WORTH — By the end of May, The Dock Bookshop had run out of certain titles. After the killing of George Floyd, sisters Donya and Donna Craddock noticed that people of all races were pouring into their family-owned store in search of books on racism and privilege.
The sisters put up signs to alert customers about their low inventory. The signs, displayed next to books like Hood Feminism and We Were Eight Years in Power, referred to recent weeks of increased activism for social justice and against police brutality as “The Great Awakening.”
The Dock Bookshop is one of the largest Black-owned bookstores in Texas and the Southwest. Located in a predominantly Black ZIP code in east Fort Worth, the bookstore is large, with only half of the space reserved for books; the other half serves as a space for community events.
It also serves as a site of knowledge, educating people about African and African American history and culture through in-person events, programs on a radio station and of course, books. “Especially for a Black bookstore, that is one of our missions — serving the community,” Donna said.
But now, at a time when people are curious to learn how recent events will play into a larger narrative of history, the Dock, with its signs, has given a name to this historic moment. Perhaps unwittingly, too.
