The oldest Black bookstore in Philadelphia has acquired a state historic marker over six a long time after its launch.
About 100 pals, clients and relations gathered in entrance of Hakim’s E book Retailer on Sept. 23 to honor Dawud Abdel Hakim, who got down to guarantee Black folks knew they’d a wealthy historical past predating slavery when he began promoting books in 1959, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Hakim initially labored from the trunk of his automobile earlier than transferring to his namesake retailer in West Philadelphia.
“In 1959 it was not fashionable to speak about Black historical past. Hakim stood tall telling the untold story,” State Sen. Vincent Hughes stated on Saturday, The Inquirer reported. “To be in enterprise for 64 years isn’t any small feat.”
Yvonne Blake, Hakim’s daughter who took over the shop after his loss of life in 1997, stated her father deserved to be memorialized due to his perception that historical past strengthened the African-American group. “My father would have been overwhelmed,” she stated of the historic designation. “It might have introduced tears to his eyes.”
Hakim began his book-selling journey because the Black Energy motion gained supporters. On the time, then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover distributed memos calling bookstores equivalent to Hakim’s “shops for revolutionary and hate publications and tradition facilities for extremism.”
Nonetheless, Hakim stayed true to his mission, regardless that making the bookstore worthwhile wasn’t a straightforward job. He continued working as a metropolis accountant to assist his spouse and three youngsters whereas operating the bookstore, which had few clients and poor gross sales.
Regardless of the difficulties, the enterprise expanded. In 1980, Hakim opened a second retailer in Atlanta and taught historical past at Morehouse Faculty. Blake closed the Atlanta location when her father died since no relative was close by to handle the shop’s day by day operations.
“My father acknowledged we had a historical past that didn’t begin with slavery,” Blake stated. “We had a spot and contributed to the wealth of this nation and weren’t second-class residents.”
Blake, like her father, confronted extreme financial challenges when she took over the shop. Nonetheless, she vowed to “hold it going so long as I can” — a promise that was difficult to satisfy within the face of chain shops, the web, Amazon, and a recession.
Amy Lambert, president of the College Metropolis Historic Society and an authorized architect, stated the group assisted within the prolonged software course of for a historic monument, together with hiring a historian, following George Floyd demonstrations in 2020.
“It has not been a factor to carry up Black historical past with these markers,” stated Hughes, in line with The Inquirer. “Now it’s the usual.”
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