TACOMA, Wash. — Clover Daydreams is a first-of-its-kind bookstore in Tacoma, billed as a safe space for banned books and those who feel marginalized. It’s also owned by a queer bi-racial Filipina who happens to have a doctorate in music.
The store is the brainchild of the musician turned bookstore entrepreneur. The goal is to offer books that reflect the wide diversity of the BIPOC and LGBTQAI communities in the South Sound.
“We’ll just see how this goes, is that all right?” asks Clover Tamayo, strumming a mini ukelele.
Tamayo, whose pronouns are they/them, can be forgiven for not being quite ready to perform for the camera.
After all, we dropped in unannounced on their namesake bookstore, Clover Daydreams. We wanted to know more.
“So, this is ‘Clover Daydreams,’ a safe and inclusive book space,” said Tamayo. “And I center queer, trans, BIPOC, disabled, and historically excluded voices.”
Voices like theirs, bi-racial and queer with a hunger for books that speak directly to them.
“I wanted stories as a kid and I didn’t always see those stories,” Tamayo said. “My friends and I didn’t always have those stories.”
Indeed, in 4th grade, a well-meaning teacher introduced them to Amy Tan’s bestselling book, “The Joy Luck Club,” about the experience of Chinese-American immigrants. But Tamayo’s paternal family is from the Philippines.
“A lot of the characters in here were survivors of the Japanese occupation in World War II which is very much similar to what happened to the Philippines during World War II,” they said. “My Lolo, he survived the Bataan Death March. He was a POW as well, so. Yeah, my grandfather and my grandmother.”
Now stories that more closely align with their life are here, including those banned elsewhere.
“‘Gender Queer,’” they pulled from the shelf. “Oftentimes I joke if I see something that gets on the banned list, it’s going to be here. And someone’s going to want it, to have that story.”
There’s also “Tricia Hersey’s ‘Rest is Resistance, A Manifesto,’” Tamayo said.
And this: “So, ‘Godly Heathens,’” they said. “You want a wizarding world, but with more melanin, ancestral magic. So, this one here ‘Blood Debts.”
Overlooking it all “my Tita Rita, my father, and the graves of my Lolo, Lola, and Tita.”
And on the shelf right below, is Tamayo’s doctorate diploma from Michigan State University.
“I’m here because someone survived,” they said. “And so, to honor them, I’m doing what I’m doing.”
This is actually more than a bookstore inside a thrift shop. It’s also a safe place for anyone who needs that kind of space, just to be.
“What I love about being in the space here at Black Sheep Resale is that we also have a community space in the back,” said Tamayo. “We have the queer teen hangouts on Fridays. We have a queer trans adult hangout we call ‘Campfire,’ on Saturdays. We host a craft night on Wednesdays.”
“Clover Daydreams, a safe and inclusive bookstore,” sang Tamayo. “Clover Daydreams.”
They’re singing a tune, different from all the rest.
“Connecting with people, through our stories,” they continued, “books, audio, e-books, voice, we’ll find it for you whatever your choice, some restrictions apply.”
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