Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN VOICE
NOVEMBER 3/1994
Charis Books And More
celebrates 20 years
Eat Out... Help Out!
by PAMELA EVANS
As independent bookstores
struggle to keep their doors open, the
women at Charis Books And More
are in the mood to celebrate. The femi
nist bookstore and meeting place in
Little Five Points is throwing a week
end-long birthday party when Charis
turns 20 years old this weekend.
There surely are reasons to cel
ebrate—survival, for one thing.
Thanks to careful work by longtime
part-owner Linda Bryant and the vari
ous other owners/partners who have
come and gone over the years, Charis
has managed to weather many of the
financial hardships that sometimes
doom small businesses. Today, Charis
is one of the leading feminist book
stores in the country, with book sales
placing them squarely in the top five.
Yet it hasn’t always been that way.
When Bryant opened Charis with Bar
bara Borgman in 1974, she was more
concerned with her dream than with
the realities of operating a fiscally sol
vent operation or being an example
for other feminist bookstores to follow.
A teacher at the time, Bryant was frus
trated with her efforts to teach high school
students to read. She dreamed of a neighbor
hood store where people could rid themselves
of fears and defenses. Young and old, men
and women from every community would be
welcomed to read, to partake in conversa
tion, to sip tea, to feel safe.
Without knowing it, Bryant was already
defining what 20 years later Charis and other
feminist bookstores across the United States
would become: More than just stores, they
offer books, periodicals, music, and merchan
dise on their shelves. But moreover, through
their commitment to community service, they
also are meeting places, bulletin boards,
sources for political information, and enter
tainment centers.
By the time feminist writer Kay Hagan
began visiting the store, the direction of the
business was in question.
“We had gotten to a kind of strange place,”
explains Hagan. “It was a time when Linda
Bryant was defining her direction, just as the
feminist movement was defining its direc-
Charis in its early days, across the street from
its current location.
tion. We looked at how Charis was struc
tured and how we could work within a femi
nist structure and at the same time make it a
capital enterprise: ‘Is it a social service to the
community, or is it retail?’”
Although she eventually had to follow
her own dream, which was to support herself
as a writer, Hagan contributed over four years
to Charis and helped guide the bookstore into
its present form of business for profit set
within a feminist framework.
Today, financial considerations are ev
eryday concerns at Charis, as they are at all
of the over 135 feminist bookstores across
the United States. Although quick to point
out that the business is healthy, Bryant wor
ries about the super bookstore chains that are
able to offer books at discount prices because
of high-volume buying from publishers.
“We are struggling to pay our bills, and
so is every feminist bookstore in America,”
says Bryant. “The large bookstore chains are
a serious threat. It’s about survival. It’s about
independent voices, voices other than the mass
CONTINUES ON PAGE 18
Karuna Counseling also turns 20
In addition to Charis, November marks
the 20th anniversary of another Atlanta insti
tution: Karuna Counseling. Karuna celebrates
the dawn of its third decade of community
service on November 12, 1994, from 7 to 10
p.m., at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House
in Decatur.
Karuna (“compassion” in Sanskrit) began
in 1974 as a task force of the Midtown
YWCA’s Women’s Center, and soon there
after became an independent collective. From
its inception, Karuna has addressed sexism
(including heterosexism), classism and rac
ism through the principles of feminist psy
chology, which facilitates direct communica
tion through personal honesty and responsi
bility, openness to others, and a commitment
to egalitarian relationships.
Throughout most of its history, Karuna
has utilized the feminist model of decision
by consensus—no small feat. By offering
high-quality therapeutic services on a sliding
fee scale, Karuna has always provided coun
seling and support to those who otherwise
may not have had access to it.
Karuna’s path to maturity has been ser
pentine and rich, littered with obstacles. In
an early challenge, Karuna played David to
the IRS’ Goliath: prior to granting tax-ex
empt status, the federal agency demanded
Karuna sign a statement defining homosexu
ality as a pathological condition not to be
promoted, facilitated or encouraged. Karuna
declined to comply, and the IRS blinked,
granting the collective nonprofit status.
In fact, the IRS faceoff was a breeze com
pared to Karuna’s own growth pangs.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 22
MCI
a proud sponsor of
9
FOR LIFE
Wednesday, November 9th.
Dine out at one of these restaurants and help
Project Open Hand
feed Atlantans living with AIDS.
DOWNTOWN /
UNDERGROUND
Chow Downtown
Delect ables
Groundhog Tavern
Hard Rock Cafe
Henri’s Bakery
Nikolai's Roof
Ocean Club
Rio Bravo Grill
INTOWN / MIDTOWN
A Taste of New Orleans
Alon's at the Terrace
Bagel Break
Brasserie Au Bar
Bridgetown Grill
Cafe Mythology
California Pizza Kitchen
Chefs Cafe
Chefs Grill
Cowtippers
Einstein’s
Fat Matt's Chicken Shack
Fat Matt's Rib Shack
French Quarter Food Shop
Houlihan's Colony Square
Mary Mac's Tea Room
Mick's (Midtown)
Nick's Charcoal Grill
Nuevo Laredo Cantina
South City Kitchen
The Abbey
The Philly Connection
The Royal Bagel
Vickery’s
Wendy's
VIRGINIA/PONCEY
HIGHLANDS
American Roadhouse
Atkins Park
Babette's Cafe
Camille's
Capo's Cafe
Caramba Cafe
Chow
Everybody's Pizza
Highland Tap
Mambo Restaurante Cubano
Murphy's Round the Corner
Pad Thai
Partners Morningside Cafe
RJ's Uptown Kitchen & Wine
Bar
Taco Mac
The African Brown Bag
The Dessert Place
CHESHIRE BRIDGE/
BRIAR VISTA
Alfredo's Italian Restaurant
Dunk 'n Dine
Happy Herman’s
Marra's Seafood Grill
Nicola's
South of France
BREAKFAST • LUNCH • DINNER
Sponsored by
CHESHIRE BRIDGE/
PEACHTREE HILLS /
BRIAR VISTA
SOUTH BUCKHEAD
Sundown Cafe
Georgia Grille
The Colonnade
Gourmet Grill
Imperial Fez
BUCKHEAD
Jim White's Half Shell
103 West
Palisade's
Anis Bistro
Rocky's Brick Oven Pizza &
Azalea
Pasta
Azio
Bacchanalia
The Coach and Six
Bagelicious
EMORY/DECATUR/
Basil’s Mediterranean Cafe
DEKALB
Beesley's of Buckhead
Dooley's Restaurant
Bertolini's
Dusty's Barbecue
Brasserie Le Coze
Everybody's Pizza
Buckhead Diner
dagger's
Cafe at Pharr
Meno's New Orleans Cafe
Cafe Dimitri
The Philly Connection
Cafe Gamay / Swissdtel
Cafe Tu Tu Tango
Cassis / Hotel Nikko
Vtolette
Wall St. Pizza
Chopstix
SANDY SPRINGS/
Dux's
DUNWOODY
Far East Cafe
Arturo's
Goldberg's Bagel Co. & Deli
Atlanta Sour Bread Company
Hal's on Old Ivy
Bagel Eatery
Hedgerose Heights Inn
Bridgetown Grill
Henri's Bakeiy
Horseradish Grill
Brooklyn Cafe
Chequers Seafood Grill
Johnny Rockets
Ember's Seafood Grille
La Grotta
Henri's Bakery
Ippolito's
Johnny Rockets
La Strada Grille
Landmark Diner
Le Rendez Vous
La Paz Restaurante Cantina
Lettuce Souprise You
McKinnon's Louisiana
Paisanos
The Brickery Grill & Bar
Peasant Restaurant & Bar
Roasters
Toni's Casa Napoli
Sweet Stuff-A Dessert Cafe
ROSWELL / ALPHARETTA
The Bistro
Altobeli's Fine italian Cuisine
The Bread Market
Bagelicious
The Dessert Place
Greenwood’s on Green St.
Tom Tom
Lettuce Souprise You
U.S. Border Cantina
Moriah's »
Yakitori Den-Chan
BUFORD HWY / CHAMBLEE /
Paisanos
Van Gogh's Restaurant & Bar
DORAVILLE
VININGS
57th Fighter Group
Jason Lau Orient Express
The Vinings Inn
SOUTHSIDE AIRPORT
Azteca Grill
The Vinings Club
COBB / SMYRNA / MARIETTA
STONE MOUNTAIN
Houston's
The Grill
Malone's Grill & Bar
Mario's of Atlanta
LITTLE 5 POINTS
Paisonos
Bridgetown Grill
Eat Your Vegetables
The Flying Biscuit
The Bagel Bin
The House of Chan
WEST PACES FERRY /
PEACHTREE HILLS /
NORTHSIDE PARKWAY
SOUTH BUCKHEAD
Avanti's Italian Restaurnat
Abruzzi
Houston's
Bella Cucina
OK Cafe
Snack 'N Shop
Gorin's Ice Cream
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FOR MORE INFORMATION. CALL PROJECT OPEN HAND AT 52W737