Boston poet laureate Porsha Olayiwola isn’t just a wordsmith—she’s a community builder. Her latest project, justBook-ish, an independent bookstore in Dorchester, Massachusetts, is as much about connection as it is about the written word. As Olayiwola shared with The Boston Globe, her vision is for the bookstore to function as “a literary gathering space, which means that you should theoretically be able to come in here, whether or not you can afford something, and feel comfortable.”
Opened in November 2024 with business partner Bing Broderick, justBook-ish stands out for a few reasons. It’s one of the few Black-owned bookstores in Boston and one of the rare spots in the Dorchester neighborhood open late into the evening. This makes it a welcome haven for locals looking for a place to meet, work or simply browse.
But the heart of justBook-ish lies in its mission: spotlighting writers who challenge the status quo. “We’re hoping to highlight folks who have been traditionally marginalized,” Olayiwola said.
The idea for justBook-ish came from a personal need. Olayiwola recalled, “I remember being in my home office and saying, ‘Dang, I need to have a late-night meeting with somebody, and they’re not coming to my house. Where can I walk to at 7 p.m.? Because everything’s closed near here,’” she told the Globe.
Over the three years it took to bring the bookstore to life, Olayiwola and Broderick said they reached out to other bookstores in Boston for advice. When their efforts didn’t yield much, they decided to create something entirely their own—a space where the community could thrive.
“People do rest as a political act,” Olayiwola said, “but I’m arguing for leisure and fun and joy as a kind of political act.”
That community spirit is already taking root. Jeremiah Ancrum, a local resident, recently hosted
an open mic night at the bookstore after simply asking Olayiwola if he could. “That just speaks to [Olayiwola’s] character,” Ancrum said. “How well she’s able to curate with the community, find things that work for them and even build a space for them to be felt, heard and included.”
Events like these reflect the bookstore’s dual structure: a for-profit side that focuses on book, food and drink sales, and a nonprofit arm, Words As Worlds, which hosts workshops, tea tastings and more.
Balancing this hybrid model hasn’t been easy. “What’s complicated about our model is that we couldn’t spend nonprofit dollars in the buying of any equipment or inventory related to the sale of books or the sale of food and beverage,” Broderick explained. But their efforts have drawn the attention of influential supporters, including Massachusetts Senator Ayanna Pressley.
Pressley praised the mission of justBook-ish as an “affirmative statement of the power of our intellectual freedoms, the power of diverse and representative authors and stories against the backdrop of a rise of draconian actions to roll back those gains made.”
The bookstore also hosts workshops on publishing and selling books, empowering aspiring authors to share their stories. Patrons like Josie Hanna Colon, a Northeastern University student who performed at the open mic night, are feeling the impact. “Knowing that we now have a space where a lot of Black authors are highlighted, I think that definitely will be just a general motivator for the community to be like, ‘Hey guys, we belong in spaces like these. So come by,’” Colon said.
For Olayiwola, it’s all about making room for voices that too often go unheard. “As soon as the doors open, it’s no longer ours. It belongs to other people,” she told the Globe.
That ethos captures the essence of justBook-ish in Boston—a space where words build bridges, stories inspire and everyone is welcome.