Come experience the beauty and power of the spoken word with us! Sign up to perform: https://forms.gle/TkYQfhqXx9zHWDs89

Shaper of change, mother of Afrofuturism, and visionary fiction royalty… Help us celebrate Octavia Butler!

Parable is named after Octavia to honor her legacy of visioning a liberated community in the midst of a world in crisis. Join us as we ground ourselves in her teachings and have some fun in community together!

An afternoon of food, music, and activities. We will also be raising funds to support folks in Palestine attempting to find safety and be reunited with family.

This is the first of a series of movement ancestor celebrations.

Dosey do on down to Parable for queer two step and line dancing!

Tickets at the door, sliding scale $0-$15 donation.

Beginner two step lesson @ 7:15, dancing starts at 8pm.

See you there cuties!

Book Club for Queers hosted by Cliterature

Source: https://www.instagram.com/cliteraturex/

Hosted by Family Connects Pierce County

Didn’t think it would be this hard? Is this normal? How do I meet other parents?

You’ve come to the right space. We are here to answer those questions and more. During a baby lounge gathering, you will be able to ask a health professional your questions and meet other new parents in Pierce County in a safe environment. Pregnant / expecting families and families with children ages 0-1 are welcome!

This is a free monthly event for LGBTQIA2S+ families. Registration required.

Source: https://www.familyconnectswa.org/baby-lounge

An artist talk and workshop with Kelly Froh & Max Clotfeller.

All ages welcome but our target audience is ages 14 & up. All supplies provided by Short Run Seattle.

Registr here: https://bit.ly/parablezines

Taxes + Tidbits is a 2 hour FREE workshop hosted by tax and accounting professionals Leydy Munoz owner of Saavy Biz, LLC and Allie Corrigan-Luke owner of The Business Shoppe.

Register to attend: https://tinyurl.com/taxesntidbits

Book Club for Queers hosted by Cliterature

Come commune with other writers, reconnect with your writing craft, and get honest peer feedback. Light snacks will be provided.

Didn’t think it would be this hard? Is this normal? How do I meet other parents?

You’ve come to the right space. We are here to answer those questions and more. During a baby lounge gathering, you will be able to ask a health professional your questions and meet other new parents in Pierce County in a safe environment. Pregnant / expecting families and families with children ages 0-1 are welcome!

This is a free monthly event for LGBTQIA2S+ families. Registration required.

Join us for @piercecountylibrary ‘s 8th annual Black Voices in the Arts event series. This series focuses on celebrating Black stories through guest artists, writers and poets, with activities and book sharing for all ages.

The first event is at Parable on Feb 13th at 5:30pm. The second event is online but in discussion with Parable on February 28th at 4:30pm.

Hosted by Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America and Serve the People Tacoma.

Help fund winter outreach and tenant organizing with music, poetry, and comedy! $0-$10 sliding scale entry donation at the door. All donations are deeply appreciated.

Hosted by author Lynne Reese

Black author sessions with local vendors

Book Club for Queers hosted by Cliterature

rescheduled from January

Are you ready to read a new book with us? This month’s book is The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith! We’ll be discussing it on February 19th. Thank you to our friend Erika for her exciting description of this book 🥰

“’The Price of Salt’ by Patricia Highsmith is an utterly foundational work of queer literature. At a time when publishers required any lesbian stories to end in tragedy, ‘The Price of Salt’ bucked that trend and portrayed a truly happy ending for its sapphic lovers. While it might read a little differently to what we’re used to today, the novel is still immensely valuable as a cultural artifact, and is absolutely still relevant to modern audiences.

This is made evident by the book’s incredible 2015 cinematic adaptation, ‘Carol’, which is also absolutely worth your time. It has Cate Blanchett’s perfect, golden head dipping between another woman’s legs, what more could you want? Subtly masterful cinematography depicting the struggles and hidden joys of being gay in the 50’s? Well, it has that too. Enjoy 💜”

Come enjoy food and artisan products from the Caribbean, featuring Trini Plate, Tiny Hands Ceramics, and Yo It’s Cake.

Come check out Spacecowrieboi at Parable, with reworked and curated thrift clothing items.

This one’s for the COVID-conscious cuties! We’d love to spend Valentine’s Day with you playing a super cute round of friend speed dating. 7-8:30pm at Parable. RSVP to attend (link is bit.ly/parablematch) and we will send COVID safety guidelines and any instructions in advance. Friendship is everything and it will make our whole lives if you meet your new bestie at Parable

Join us for the kick off of Pierce County Library’s 8th annual Black Voices in the Arts program series! We will be welcoming local authors Bonita Lee and Katharine Threat in conversation with LaKecia Farmer of Parable Bookstore. Learn about their writing journey and enjoy readings from their work, with time for audience questions and refreshments. 

There will be artist vendors as well as a food vendor

Black Voices in the Arts is hosted in recognition of the national African American Read-In initiative, started by the National Council of Teachers of English. This event series focuses on celebrating Black stories through guest artists, writers and poets, with activities and book sharing for all ages. Learn more about the African American Read In at https://ncte.org/get-involved/african-american-read-in/

The only thing better than getting lost in a book is sharing it with others.

Bring a book (or several) that you love but are ready to say goodbye to. We will provide cards for you to write a little goodbye/love letter to the book for the next person that reads it. Grab a cozy drink from Civic Roasters while you find your next favorite read! See less

Join your pals Alyssa and Erin for another bang-up Tacoma edition of Is This Normal? - the comedy show that makes us all feel a little less strange.

Bring your bestie or your boo, and come out to Parable shop in Tacoma for a night of standup comedy, confessions, and queries. Put your partner's quirks on blast! Share your secret desires! Alyssa and Erin will read your anonymous submissions and debate whether they're "normal," "special," or something else altogether.

Doors at 6:30 // show at 7pm

Featuring:

Alyssa Yeoman & Erin Ingle

with special guests Ev Jensen, Nesil Izil, and Monisa Brown

Join Quinn Miller Murphy for a reading of What Did My Ancestors Eat?, a board book about food and ancestry for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and their families.

Quinn will do a reading of the book, followed by a group art project where kids and families of all ages are invited to draw and discuss their favorite foods.

About the book:

“Join a curious mixed-race, multi-ethnic child as they uncover the secret stories hidden within these delicious dishes. With every page turn, this heartwarming tale reveals the extraordinary power of food to bring generations and cultures together.”

Dean R. Owen

Author of November 22, 1963: Reflections on the Life, Assassination, and Legacy of John F. Kennedy

Mr. Owen interviewed 100 people who knew, worked with, and had funny or poignant encounters with the 35th President of the United States. He will discuss his impressions of Kennedy's presidency, as well as events leading up to the assassination 60 years ago. Furthermore, he'll discuss how the tragedy impacted individuals, and how it shaped U.S. foreign and domestic policies.

LaKecia (co-owner of Parable) will be interviewed on a podcast featuring black authors, sellers, and other book related folks.

About the hosts:

Black Authors Matter TV is a program where we interview people within the book industry every Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. CST. We recently celebrated our three-year anniversary and our audience averages about 2K viewers every week. The program is done via Zoom and live-streamed on the NBBF Facebook page with 93K-plus followers and we've interviewed 500+ guests since the show's inception including talk show host Tamron Hall, CNN analyst Bakari Sellers, and NBA mom Sonya Curry. The show is also available on the top six podcast platforms.

Hey fam! We’re putting on a vendor market at @parabletacoma on Sat, 12/16 featuring youth entrepreneurs and creatives! Calling all youth 18 and under — apply to vend by 11/25 at tinyurl.com/youthmarket253 (link in IG linktree). BIPOC and Tacoma-based applications will be prioritized and no vendor fees will be charged to selected applicants. Thank you to Parable for sponsoring this special event and for being a dope dreaming partner!

💛 Free and open to all

💛 Good vibes and refreshments

💛 In the interest of collective care, masks will be required and provided; air purification will be provided for maximum indoor ventilation. ADA-accessible space and entrance on 35th st. All gender, single stall restroom on-site.

Lock in the date and come shop from local young entrepreneurs this holiday season!

Free food by Trini Plate and drinks, holiday karaoke, kid activities and new inventory. Plus mutual aid drive for The People’s Assembly.

DONATE

linktr.ee/thepeoplesassembly253

Cashapp: @ThePeoplesAssembly

paypal.me/TPA253

This event is hosted by Black Night Market, see location below:

Join us to support 80+ BIPOC Owned Businesses, artists, performances and to take photos with Black Santa!

Event elements: vendors, food trucks, live music, performers, family activities, a selfie photo booth with Santa, workshops, games, art installations and more!

This event is free to enter and there is free street parking available!

Saturday December 9, 2023

Time: 2pm - 8pm

Address: 1001 S Yakima Ave Tacoma WA 98405

We’re freshening up our stock with more artisans and hand-made products! As a reminder, we buy products wholesale except for some art and clothing (which is a commission). For Small Business Saturday, we are doing a “Refresh” sale, 30-70% off most artisan products. We also have a large section of $1 books that were not flying off our shelves but you might want!

If you are interested in being in our store, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/GCfNu96Dmmbe5sCU6