For 25 years Yusef Harris has promoted black awareness at Alkebu-Lan Images Bookstore, an independent bookstore that focuses on black history, education, self-help and spirituality.
“I wanted products that reflect African-American heritage and culture and improve one’s self-esteem,” said Harris, who opened the Jefferson Street shop in 1986. “At the time, there were no resources for black art and black books.
“People would come in and say, ‘I want that Cosby art,’ because there was an awakening and awareness in the black community.”
Alkebu-Lan was the original name for the continent of Africa whose people were known as Alkebulans, Harris said. The store was the former psychologist’s solution to promote positive images of blacks in the community, he said.
Now, celebrating its 25th anniversay, the store offers books on black history, self-help, urban novels, spirituality and children’s books with brown-shaded cartoon characters.
Harris added greeting cards from a black-owned company before Hallmark’s Mahogany line was created.
His business grew with the popularity of The Cosby Show and Terry McMillan’s 1992 novel, Waiting to Exhale.
“Alkebu-Lan works because I am selling niche products that could not be found in other stores. It is my business to know what book Tom Joyner is talking about on his radio show or what books are props in black films for when people come in and say, ‘Do you know that book? I can’t remember the title but I heard (about) it on the radio.’”
Harris travels to conferences for professional black organizations to promote his Nashville-based bookstore. His ventures have helped Alkebu-Lan Images become a destination for African-American tourists in Nashville and for people on college tours.
“That national base has become a big part of my success,” he said. About 10 percent of the business comes from colleges and education centers. Another 30 percent comes from conventions and festivals.
Harris opened the bookstore using a $15,000 loan from the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency as the down payment on a former gas station. His first inventory was full of trinkets and straw bags that he brought back from Kenya. There were also a few books donated by other black-owned bookstores and entrepreneurs.
The company grew to have a $100,000 payroll in the mid-1990s with a satellite location at Tennessee State University’s incubation center for shipping books and paintings.
In recent years, the book business has dwindled, but Alkebu-Lan Images says it holds on by reminding North Nashville residents of the importance of raising literate youth.
The bookstore began celebrating its 25th anniversary with a weekend book fair at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School with 25 local authors. Harris awarded $500 in scholarships to three students at the event.
As other national booksellers and regional bookstores close their doors, Alkebu-Lan also has seen a decline in customers, but Harris says he is committed to promoting African heritage and culture.
He has launched the “Power Now, Reading is How” initiative to put Saturday morning reading programs in North Nashville churches. Harris is donating books and recruiting retired teachers to help elementary and middle school students cultivate their reading skills and adopt the habit of opening a book. He also plans to create a formal organization for Nashville’s black authors.
