Latin America Memorial Library in Sao Paulo Nearly Empties Shelves, Highlighting Lack of Black Literary Representation

Mar. 28, 2025

The Library of the Latin America Memorial, in Sao Paulo, opened its doors with almost no books to be seen. The initiative by Amazon.com.br temporarily emptied the library's bookshelves, leaving only those written by Black authors. The act was designed to provide a powerful visual demonstration of the inequality that persists in literary representation.

The Latin American Memorial Library, which has a collection of 50,000 titles, was left with only 5% of the books on its shelves.

The initiative also reinforced Amazon.com.br's commitment to valuing Black writers through the Vozes Negras Kindle Award, a partnership between Amazon Brazil and leading publisher Companhia das Letras, which recognizes the best works published by independent Black authors through Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon's tool for self-publishing. Submissions are open through April 6, and the grand prize winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in November 2025. In addition to a cash prize, the winner will have their work published by Companhia das Letras, and finalists' submissions will be produced as audiobooks by Audible Brasil. 

Though the situation has improved, the number of books published by authors of color is still far below where it should be in a country like Brazil, where 56% of the population identifies as Black or Brown (IBGE, 2020).

Lillian Dakessian, head of Brand and Mass Marketing at Amazon Brasil said:

“Representation in literature is crucial to promoting equal access to culture. This initiative invites readers to explore new perspectives and encourages more Black authors to have their stories amplified."

 

Ricardo Perez, Amazon's Country Manager for Books in Brazil said:

"The first edition of the Vozes Negras Kindle Award is a reaffirmation of Amazon's long-term commitment to Brazil, and to the development of literature and diverse voices. We're proud to lend visibility to all sorts of Black talents through Kindle Direct Publishing."

 

Reading and Special Event

Beyond the visual impact of the emptied-out library, the event included a special event – a literary encounter dedicated to reading and discussing works by Black authors. The featured authors were Renan Gonçalves da Silva, reading “A voz que ninguém escutou” [The Voice Nobody Heard]; Vanessa Passos, who read excerpts from "A filha primitiva" [The Primitive Daughter], and Samuel Gomes, presenting his book "Guardei no armário" [I Kept it in the Closet]. Renan and Vanessa are both former Kindle Book Awards winners, having participated in the contest that has honored independent authors for the past nine years. 

The event allowed attendees the unique opportunity to share experiences and help strengthen Black literature in Brazil. The campaign was developed by AlmapBBDO.