Sokha Danh’s passion project, mam’s books (he prefers to stylize it in lowercase), is the first independent Asian American-owned bookstore in the CID, and indeed the whole Pacific Northwest. Danh, a business owner and Chinatown International District (CID) activist, will receive the Tatsuo Nakata Leadership Award at the International Examiner’s Community Voice Awards ceremony on September 27, 2024.

The store is dedicated to both of Danh’s parents and named after his father, Mam Danh, who encouraged all of his children to read, taking them on weekly trips to the library and Barnes and Noble.

“In the short time since Sokha opened the doors of his small bookstore, he’s brought vibrancy to a declining corner of the neighborhood,” said Ron Chew, CID community leader and International Examiner board member.

“It’s the CID’s newest creative meeting ground, a place where people come to celebrate stories of pioneers, educators, activists, writers and other artists. It took a lot of guts and resourcefulness for a young person like Sokha to pull this off.”

We sat down with Sokha to hear his reflections on youth leadership and his first year in business. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. (Disclosure: Danh is also a former board member of the International Examiner.)

International Examiner: Congratulations on the one-year anniversary of mam’s books! For folks who have never been to the bookstore, why should they check it out?

Sokha Danh: Because you want to support your local Asian American bookstore! The only Cambodian American bookstore focused on literature in the whole United States of America. And because us claiming space is so important. As Asian Americans, as communities of color, we need to claim space. Physical spaces. This is our home. America is our home. It’s critical, it’s vital, it’s necessary that we create physical spaces that reflect our values and how we want to live and thrive in the world.

IE: You’re receiving the Tatsuo Nakata Leadership Award at this year’s IE Community Voice Awards. What does leadership mean to you?

SD: The first thing instinctually that comes to mind is that it is beyond you, beyond me. It’s more than one person. A leader inspires, a leader cultivates, a leader nurtures. A leader is not necessarily up in front, you know? A leader knows how to work behind the scenes. A leader can leave something, perhaps even the bookstore, and have the community take lead. I think that’s what true leadership means to me: it is beyond me. I create a space that is not just focused on one person or one family’s story, but it really is focused on all of our stories—that I’ve led people to share that space and create that space together.

IE: What would you say to young leaders in the Cambodian American and Southeast Asian American communities?

SD: In this bookstore experience, I’ve been really exposed to younger people in the Cambodian and Southeast Asian American community. I’m just so touched by the wisdom they have as young people. I’m floored by how much I have to learn from them. I think I’m learning more from them than they are from me, to be honest with you.

I’d say: your wisdom is obviously there. And it’s just so beautiful. You should know that you already have that. I think my role as an older person is to help create spaces for you so that you can share that wisdom with others. … Know that you got it. Be confident with it and go for it.

IE: Do you have any words of encouragement or advice for folks who see your example and think, “I really want to start my own business”?

SD: I’d say know your “why,” and make sure it’s a sustainable why for your spirit. Because there’s going to be so many ways that it doesn’t make sense. Financially, physically, bureaucracy. But if your why is so intertwined with your life force, then you’ll be fine.

And find mentorship. I’ve been lucky—shout out to Ron Chew—to have mentors who are not necessarily business mentors, but mentors for how I want to live my life. Opening a business has been more about personal growth and development than actual business. I’m asking myself what kind of person I want to be. How do I actually want to show up in the world? Because that’s the only sustainable way to do things.

IE: Reflecting on the past year at mam’s books, what were the highlights?

SD: I grew up in White Center, lived in Seattle my whole life, a product of the Northwest. I think particularly as Asian Americans, you look to other places: Asian American ethnic centers like New York City, or LA, or maybe somewhere in California. Because you’re searching for Asian Americana. … I feel blessed for meeting people I feel like I’ve been searching for my whole life, finally here in Seattle. Damn, we’ve been here the whole time. We just didn’t know it. We just didn’t have a space. But we’ve been here the whole time. That’s been very special.

Without a doubt, the support that I have received from my mom and my dad and my sisters—Vesna, Linda, Vira, and Sopha—has been instrumental in sustaining this business [for] a year.

IE: What are the biggest life lessons you learned from the first year in business?

SD: I’m learning that when you put stuff into the world, genuinely and authentically, from your heart and your soul, what you create will resonate with others. … People are coming into the bookstore because they’re not necessarily looking for a book. Books are a plus. I think people are looking for a sense of belonging, a shared identity, shared values. People are looking for community. That’s what the bookstore has attracted. Maybe the books are an excuse or a reason. But they’re looking for themselves. Within the shelves, within the space, within the people who gather in it. Within the family pictures we have on the shelves of my family, and our immigration story.

IE: What are some of the partnerships the bookstore built this year?

SD: Uh, partnerships with my credit card company [laughs]. … Partnerships like with the Southeast Asian Vinyl Society. We do Books and Beats. So we have a DJ playing in the bookstore, front and center, playing beats, and folks are browsing the shelves, talking to each other. Who would have known? A DJ in a bookstore.

IE: If other creators of color or creators in the Asian American community want to get involved and connect with you in collaboration, what is the best way for them to reach out?

SD: Come into the bookstore. Let’s have a conversation. That’s the best way.

IE: How can community members support mam’s books?

SD: People can support our bookstore by coming to our bookstore and coming to the Chinatown-International District and supporting other businesses, because a healthy business requires a healthy business community, especially in the CID.

To visit mam’s books or support the bookstore online, go to:

mam’s books, 608 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104

Hours of Operation: Fridays 4pm-7pm, Saturdays 10am-7pm, Sundays 10am-5pm

Online Bookstore: bookshop.org/shop/mamsbooks

Homepage: www.mamsbooks.com

Youtube: @mamsbooks

Instagram: @mamsbookstore

TikTok: @mamsbookstore

Facebook: mam’s books

X: mamsbooks

This year’s Community Voice Awards benefit dinner will be at Ding Feng Restaurant on Sept. 27, 2024 at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online: givebutter.com/fkO6ZI