Mover & Shaker of The Year Award Finalist - Brandon Montes

Promoting Literacy in the Bronx

How do you promote literacy in the Bronx, and why are you passionate about it? 

I promote literacy in the Bronx by providing free books to the Norwood neighborhood of the Bronx nearly every weekend since August 2018. I'm passionate about it because for a long time, the Bronx was without a single independent bookstore, it made me ask what that said about the borough's relationship with reading. Additionally, during the pandemic, public libraries were closed. Dean Spade writes, "Mutual aid is collective coordination to meet each other's needs, usually from awareness that the systems we have in place are not going to meet them." The Norwood Community Library provides free books for Bronx residents on a street level as well as a monthly book club, with discussions of books like The Fire Next Time, An African American and Latinx History of the United States, The New Jim Crow, God-Level Knowledge Darts, and Open Veins of Latin America. I am passionate about reading, being there for my community, and providing access to resources as well as antiracist education. 

What is a book that has been meaningful to you? Who is someone that has mentored or inspired you? 

Books that are meaningful to me include: Agua Viva by Clarice Lispector, 1984 by George Orwell, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Diamond the Cuts through Illusion by Thich Nhat Hanh, and All About Love by bell hooks. Someone that inspires me is my grandmother, someone who is so devout in her faith that it inspires me to be consistently out there with free books for the neighborhood. Additionally, my high school English teacher Jonthon Coulson opened my eyes to the brilliance of George Orwell.

What is your hope for The Bronx and how do you envision being a part of that? 

I think there is much opportunity to be seen with mutual aid. There are many groups doing a lot of good, so I hope to see more of that to help the needs of our communities. In 2021, the Norwood Community Library hosted two food drives, serving upwards of 100 people both times. More books and food drives are in the works. I will continue to show up for Norwood and am working on working with community gardens and other groups for other food and book drives in the future. I also work in social welfare during the week, working towards studying to become a therapist and will offer free books wherever I end up practicing one day.