We recently connected with TAMARA SHILOH and have shared our conversation below.

TAMARA, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

The focus needs to shift back to the child’s education, keeping in mind that all children do not learn the same way. Teachers need more support from their school so that they do not need to spend a lot of time on disciplining children. Educate teachers regarding the diversity of students they are teaching. Teachers need to understand the various cultures of their students. Education needs to be more inclusive of the history of these United States sharing stories that are inclusive of all cultures. Children need to know and see that their culture were very instrumental in the growth of this nation. And while teaching history, do not focus on the negative, but instead the positive components of our history. Find a way to engage parents with their child’s education. Provide a robust after school and summer programs.

TAMARA, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an author. I write children’s books about Black inventors and scientists. It is a 7-book series that I started in 2000 and began rewriting in 2017. The first 2 books are published and working on the 3rd book. I write the Black history column for the Post newspaper and have a podcast called Once Upon A Time in Black History. I teach Black History and Hispanic/Latinx History after school and in the summer. Along with the focus on history, we also spend time on reading and comprehension and math. I have a non profit, Just Imagine KidZ which provides the programs for after school and summer. I own the Multicultural Bookstore in Richmond, CA and in Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, I have a partner, Carol Santiago. I teach Black History because our children need to feel good about being Black and they need to know that they have other alternatives for careers. It’s difficult for them to aspire to be something that they’ve never seen a Black person do. I want them to understand that Black people have been doing big things for a very long time and that we have contributed abundantly to this country. We are starting a microschool for Black children here in Richmond for students kindergarten through 6th grade. Our children deserve a quality education.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think the mere fact that my bookstore is still in business shows some resilience. We survived Covid by realizing that we needed to have an online presence. We didn’t have one when we first opened. That provided us with more customers and helped become more visible. Oprah Winfrey helped a lot also. During Covid, she ran a campaign to support Black bookstores and my store was one of the bookstores that was chosen for the article. As a result, organizations started ordering from us too. I think staying in front of your customers helps a lot. I use newsletters and social media. The one thing that I haven’t been great at because I don’t really have a staff, just volunteers, is consistency with communicating with my customers. Consistency is crucial for any business. It’s helpful to be passionate about what you’re doing and being creative thinking outside the box to help with sales. The short story of my journey is that there were 3 of us for 2 months as a popup, then 2 for about another year and then just me. I fell in love with the bookstore and decided to take the journey alone. I’ve never looked back. I just kept pushing through. With the help of friends, family and my community, we’re doing okay.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients are teachers and parents. As long as I stay true to the name of the bookstore, Multicultural Bookstore, teachers especially will come through. We have books for all ages, but the children’s books are our best sellers. We try to maintain what’s popular and keep the prices competitively. And by offering story time and author book signings, that helps generate new clients also.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.multiculturalbookstore.com
• Instagram: mcb_bookstore
• Facebook: MCBBookstore
• Linkedin: Tamara Shiloh
• Twitter: @multiculturalbookstore
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@multiculturalbookstoreandg4753
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/multicultural-bookstore-richmond
• Other: I’ll send where you can hear the podcast. We changed platforms and I’m not sure what they are.

Image Credits

All photos belong to me.