‘The Black Panther of Lansdale’: A Black-owned bookstore builds community, highlights Black entrepreneurs

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On Saturday, people packed The Black Reserve Bookstore in Lansdale and the hallway outside for two different events celebrating Black entrepreneurs.

Inside the store, owner Shaykh Anwar Muhammad spoke with members of a Norristown-based joint sorority and fraternity initiative that supports Black-owned businesses.

Outside, vendors showed off their wares as part of the Black History Month Bazaar, organized by Muhammad.

Since 2017, Muhammad has built community and highlighted Black literature and culture at his store.

He first opened the business in a small space, a quarter of the size of the current store, at the back of the Dresher Arcades on Main Street. Business grew and Muhammad now has a large, light-filled space on Main Street. The bookstore is host to a number of community events, including “Boys to Men” classes, conversations, movie nights, children’s storytime and more.

Muhammad, who moved to the area from Harrisburg, said he noticed the lack of Black culture stores and outlets in the Lansdale area.

“The questions I used to ask were things like, ‘Where do people go to get Black cultural things, like anything from shea butter, Black soap to books written by Black authors to apparel, jewelry, anything?’” he said. “And they were telling me that I had to travel to Philadelphia.”

That’s what inspired him to create a space where members of the Black community could gather, learn and support one another.

“When you come in here, you’re not in Lansdale anymore,” he said. “You get whisked away into this magical land … I know they talk about Black spaces and things of that nature, yes, but yeah, it’s necessary. Everybody has their space. So we should have our space as well.”

His efforts haven’t always been welcomed by the surrounding community, he said. He’s experienced verbal pushback in phone calls and even vandalism.

“I’ve had a phone call with somebody saying that, ‘What if white people opened up their own bookstore?’ And I told them, I said ‘Well you do. Borders, Barnes and Noble, right?” he said. “I’m a book person, so when you go into these places, the bookstores are 90% white, maybe even higher, right? So you go to the Black section of the African American section, it’s very small. So I tell people, I streamline their search.”

But, Muhammad also sees more customers excited to experience the store, which, especially for the Black community, provides “a sense of belonging, a sense of comfort.”

“Everybody should have that, right?” he said.

For Muhammad, the monthly bazaar he hosts is an important way to highlight Black entrepreneurs in the area.

“There are a tremendous amount of Black-owned businesses in this area. A lot of them are not brick and mortar, so they need a place for people to see their wares,” he said.

Tina Jackson, who lives in nearby North Wales, had a table at Saturday’s bazaar for her photography business, Pixs by Tina and Flawless Photos Photo Booth. She first met Muhammad several years ago, she said, and has been coming by the bookstore ever since to learn from him and other community members.

“This is a source where you can come and you can find out, you can ask questions, and he doesn’t judge,” Jackson said. “He doesn’t make you feel bad for not knowing.”

For example, Jackson said, she was able to ask Muhammad about why he says “great day” rather than “good morning,” because the “good morning” phrase has roots in the tragic history of slavery.

Jackson said having a place such as The Black Reserve Bookstore in her neighborhood, which lacks diversity, has been important.

“It was not as friendly as you would like to think,” she said. “So knowing that I can see the diversity even in the street and the neighborhoods and the stores, that is so exciting. And he was the first one here. So he’s what he calls himself, a Black Panther of Lansdale.”

Arionna Brookins, owner of AMGlam Cosmetics, makes and sells body butter. She said she found a mentor in Muhammad.

“He just really embraced me and took me under his wing,” the Doylestown resident said. She said her business is designed to build “a community of uplifting and empowering women … If you take care of yourself through skincare, body care, you start to love yourself.”

As a Black entrepreneur, Brookins said she was proud to be one of the vendors at the Black History Month Bazaar.

“Black history really doesn’t stop. It’s not really Black history,” she said. “It’s history, and just to be a part of that through entrepreneurship, of making my mark in it, to kind of help someone else who’s underneath me, to be like, ‘Hey, I could do that too.’ So kind of just being how Mr. Anwar has been for me a mentor, to be that, for someone else to kind of look up to.”

For Brookins, The Black Reserve Bookstore has become a place for learning and connection.

“You definitely get more than just a book. You get good conversation, good energy,” she said. “And it’s honestly a good hangout spot to meet good other people, not even just Mr. Anwar. He has this energy that attracts other good people … You’re always going to feel that at home, comfy feeling.”

On Sunday, from noon to 3 p.m., the bookstore is co-hosting a bookbag and school supply giveaway with the Ambler branch of the NAACP.