La Jornada: Youth, a corner of hope that revalues ​​books and creates community

In the era of misinformation and the infodemic, reading is an act of resistance. This motto became a shout from a corner in the Narvarte neighborhood in Mexico City, where, literally, the “white rabbit hole” is located, whose metaphorical allusion is to a phrase from the novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel, the protagonist sees a talking hare enter a burrow that leads to a fantasy world.

In this case, the magic hole transports worlds, but through books… and a good coffee or tea to accompany that journey of illusion offered by the letters printed on paper.

We are talking about the La Juventud bookstore, a space where you can search for the best of these vehicle-objects and travel inside each of us, as the creator of the space, the young Monse Rojas, considers. This brief place is part of a hopeful return to books by young people who have discovered value in informing themselves outside of the Internet or social networks.

In La Juve, as they call it, workshops and reading clubs, collage classes, film screenings, talks on gender, editorial presentations are also held… It even opens its doors to clothing garage sales, among other activities. It is a place “to create community,” says the communication graduate.

It sounds strange that in the age of technology and artificial intelligence, young people decide to undertake something that society has left aside: books. Monse believes that it is a “struggle to look inside ourselves again and to become uncomfortable with what we discover.”

It refers to the fact that reading books makes you an introspective being par excellence. “Looking inside is thinking about yourself; it is seeing your mistakes and assuming them. I feel that a bookstore is a symbol of introspection that then invites you to take it out into the world.”

Generate networks

He considers that having a bookshelf, even if it is small, “is a resistance in that today we no longer want to think, and that is linked to political-economic factors. In this case we are trying to survive collectively.” She knows that “it is not a profitable business”, but she believes that this is where the part comes in where you decide that “you are not going to get rich, but you are going to generate another type of wealth, which is not material wealth. These are decisions based on personal well-being, on what is going to make you feel more fulfilled. It is following your instinct as to what is valuable to you. For us it is books.”

Youth is born from the need of these young women to revalue these objects, and, he insists, “to generate collectivity; to be involved in an environment of a network that sustains us,” he assures, who refers to the network of concerns that young people currently have.

She accepts that, although “it sounds cliché that books and their stories accompany us,” reading has helped her “to get to know the world. I have not traveled; I have not had the opportunity to leave the country. But I feel that I have traveled through them.”

An essential point, he considers, is that texts can cause us “discomfort. So we don’t want this in life, because we no longer look inward, but we are not externalizing anything either.” Furthermore, he exclaims, “they invite us to do something that is extremely revolutionary: steal from capitalism a little while to say: ‘I am not going to do anything other than read.’ Get off that hamster wheel and stop it for five minutes, even if it is, to say: ‘I am going to get into this world.’”

Andrea Alcalá is his project partner. She spent much of her time as an activist defending vulnerable groups, and is the initiator of the local book club. The inertia and synergy made her a more committed part of Juve. “It is a space where we can talk, share what we are and who we are, and find a support network.”

Both Monse and Andrea, the books came to them since they were children. They were discovered with titles of moral stories and withbest sellers. Today, more than integrated, they are with the complicated publishing world, but they insist that the value of their space is the community. They assure that “technology and the rapacious capitalism in which we live today forces us to individuality, which is not natural for us. So, books are a freedom that allows you to be master of your time, and, from there, appropriate what you feel and dream.”

They recognize that the industry is not very profitable. “You have to build trust with the publishers, and that comes from making firm purchases. And the books are expensive… The labels we have here right now are the ones that have allowed us to buy little by little. And they have accompanied us because it is difficult to enter. It is like a synergy that if ‘it goes well for you, so do we (the publisher).'”

They do not forget that this industry is “very patriarchal. There are few women, and those that exist are usually not in decision-making roles. It is something very structural.”

However, they highlight the emotional treasure of continuing with their initiative: “it changed my life,” Andrea proclaims. In turn, Monse remarks: “It is a space where we take a little time (from our lives), have a coffee and share what the books give us.”

La Juventud is at 716 Anaxágoras Street, Narvarte neighborhood. Closed on Mondays.