An Open Letter to the Borderlands Books Ownership, Staff, and Community
We, the undersigned, have been sponsors and supporters of Borderlands Books. Alan Beatts asked for community support to keep his business operational; in exchange, we expect him to be accountable to that community.
In light of the accusations that Alan has committed acts of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, we are withdrawing our sponsorship and support for Borderlands Books. We believe the survivors. We want to support them and any others Alan has harmed, whether or not they publicly come forward.
We cannot support Borderlands while Alan might use his position as owner to do and conceal harm. We demand that he relinquish ownership of the store and divest financially from it. We understand that alternatives to his ownership, such as a workers’ co-operative, are being discussed. We demand that he cooperate with these discussions and any transition plan they may generate.
While those of us who are sponsors do not expect our money to be returned, we demand that our names be removed from all lists of “current sponsors” posted online or in the store. On the original list of sponsors, the label “withdrawn” should be added next to our names.
We hope that we can resume support and sponsorship of Borderlands (or a successor bookstore) under different ownership and management. Above all, we will respect the opinions of the people Alan has hurt, if and when they choose to speak.
Sincerely,
William Pietri, sponsor 22
Michael Howley, sponsor 27
Rose Fox, sponsor 63
Xtina Schelin, sponsor 65
Katrina James, sponsor 104
Greta Christina, sponsor 119
Nate Taylor, sponsor 130
Frances Schaeffer, sponsor 137
Bob Lopez, sponsor 144
Vivienne Pustell, sponsor 145
James Home, sponsor 148
Kristie Dahlia Home, sponsor 149
Eden Gallanter, sponsor 157
Miki Habryn, sponsor 158
Jade Sales-Lee, sponsor 162
Pete Warden, sponsor 188
Joanne Ladolcetta, sponsor 189
Henry W. Mahncke, sponsor 195
Tracy Schmidt, sponsor 248
Mano Marks, sponsor 249
Lisa Hirsch, sponsor 279
Marian Phillips, sponsor 294
Leah Hammond, former staff
Chris Hall, supporter
Katherine Cross, author, supporter
Watson Ladd, smof, customer
Lavender, supporter
Emily Leathers, sponsor 342
John Kaufman, sponsor 383
Ellen Datlow, sponsor 384
Erin Ogden, sponsor 402
Alex Brown, sponsor 415
Ekaterina Kuznetsova, sponsor 432
Aaron Gable, sponsor 459
Don Hoffman, sponsor 473
Carson Beker, sponsor 484
Elizabeth S. Q. Goodman, sponsor 486
Emily J. Lynch, sponsor 487
Alyc Helms, sponsor 490
Kristin Buxton, sponsor 536
Dave Schweisguth, sponsor 551
Marguerite Kenner and Alasdair Stuart, sponsor 566
Preeya Phadnis, sponsor 569
Kurt Bollacker, sponsor 578
Avani Gadani, sponsor 640
Aura Vulcano, sponsor 657
E Gilliam, sponsor 708
Mike Gaworecki, sponsor 723
Andi Diezmann, sponsor 781
Jacob Davies, sponsor 784
James Turnbull, sponsor 785
Denise Cicuto, sponsor 816
Rebecca Bellovin, sponsor 817
Mark Pantoja, sponsor 834
Lusann Yang, supporter
Kimberlee Johnson, supporter
Amy Stephenson, community member
Justin Chotikul, community member
Josiah Mannion, supporter
Lily Miller
Lori Selke, author, community member
Zoe Young, supporter
Anah Redding, community member
Joshua Redel, local book buyer
Casey Bennett, supporter
Kristina Sales-Cuadra
Mary Russo, supporter
Sasha A Harris-Cronin, community member
Marie Brennan, author and customer
John-Marc Chandonia, supporter
Max Blue, supporter
Ksenia, supporter
N. Ramey, supporter
Cole Kelly, former employee
Patrick Colford, sponsor 864
Jeremy Fuller, sponsor 873
Emily Schaeffer, sponsor 898
Colby Teller, sponsor 925
Canute Haroldson, sponsor 1033
Tanya Breshears, sponsor 1076
Elan Samuel, sponsor 1092
Eric Proegler, sponsor 1135
Lyla Fujiwara, sponsor 1177
Jamie Culpon, sponsor 1193
Eli Bishop, sponsor 1194
Caroline Kaster, sponsor 1204
Lyra Hall, sponsor 1211
J A Fitzpatrick, sponsor 1259
Ben Nathan, sponsor 1261
Joshua Achiam, sponsor 1263
Derek Leverenz, sponsor 1270
Ellen Hui, sponsor 1272
Betsy Levine, sponsor 1278
Dan Tasse, sponsor 1286
Jamey Moore, sponsor 1290
We welcome more signatures from everyone in the community. To sign, use this form: https://forms.gle/frubxjPEBZE34UVA
