"It's not about a broken window. It's about so much more," co-owner Sarah Hollenback said. "The conversation should really be about this humanitarian crisis. This is a global catastrophe. This is a genocide."
The store window was broken April 24, with no merchandise or money stolen. The incident is suspected of being a targeted attack.
No stranger to standing up for a contentious cause, Hollenback and co-owner Lynn Mooney want people "to understand why a feminist bookstore is so invested in this issue." Women & Children First has hosted a banned books group over the last year amid a nationwide attack on books on LGBTQ+ issues and "uncomfortable" topics in history in many Republican-led states.
Advocacy lies at the core of the store's mission, which won't slow despite the vandalization, they said.
The owners hung the Palestinian flag in their window in mid-February, and have heard from many supporters and dissenters since, some conversations proving productive despite countering opinions. The store also displayed the Progress Pride flag and the Disability Pride flag; the owners want the display to suggest all liberation struggles are connected.
They had been prepared that such an incident could take place, having received baseless threats from their choice to host drag queen storytimes amid a rise in hostile anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. Hollenback and Mooney want the store's focus to remain on centering, uplifting, and amplifying marginalized voices, and "that work is never going to cease," Mooney shared.
"That's who we are. That's what we do," she added.
"We do want to have these conversations because we think these issues are important," Mooney added. "And part of the work is digging in and engaging and trying to change minds, trying to change hearts."
The store has received an abundance of support, the owners said, despite some negativity looming on social media. Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th Ward) told Windy City Times in a statement, "It's upsetting to see a hate incident like this occur in our community."
"Women & Children First is a neighborhood treasure," the alderman added. "As a small business owner, I know first hand that vandalism like this can be devastating for any small business, and we are here to support them through this."
Once the window is restored, the owners plan to re-hang the Palestinian flag in its spot, while plans for a mural by Palestinian artists started immediately. In what the owners called an "overwhelming" response, artists met outside the store April 24 to first commiserate, then get to work creating the mural. They received help from a staff member who provided her own painting supplies.
"It was really wonderful to lock up the store after such a long, hard day of sweeping up broken glass, and to come outside and chat with them," Hollenback shared. "They were so celebratory, and so joyful."
She added, "To know that less than 24 hours [previously], there had been such a hateful energy in that same spot, I was really emotionally swept up to see some joy and art being made, making something beautiful out of something very ugly."