Newspaper Page Text
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LIFESTYLES
February 28, 1993
Black bookstores packed with knowledge
“A people
without the
knowledge of
themselves is like
a tree without
the root...they
can't grow.“
-Fredrick Douglass
By Redelia Shaw
Contributing Writer
African American aboli
tionists Frederick Douglass
once said “A people without
the knowledge of themselves
is like a tree without the
roots. . .they can’t grow.”
This is the sentiment of many
African American owned
bookstores located near the
Atlanta University Center.
Hakim’s Bookstore sells
a variety of items from world
literature to African Ameri
can greeting cards. Students
can purchase school sup
plies, art work and even T-
shirts.
Although, the bookstore
sells the nation’s best seller’s,
store owner Dawud Hakim
said his main goal is to edu
cate the African American
community on their culture.
Hakim's Bookstore
“There is an abundance of
knowledge at Hakim’s,” said
Courtney Benson, a CAU
student and sales represen
tative at the store, “Defi
nitely the truth that has been
dug up from the ground and
brought to the forefront. It is
something you can not es
cape; learning about your
self is inevitable,” he said.
Hakim’s is located at 842
Martin Luther King Dr., and
is open Monday through
Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to
7:00 p.m.
First World Bookstore is
co-owned by Nia Diamali, a
Clark Atlanta University
graduate and Jim Alexander.
The store specializes in books
by, about or relevant to the
lives of people of African de
scent. “We only sale books
of relevance to black people, ”
says Alexander, “ they need
First World Bookstore
to be informed.”
It offers special orders ser
vices, book club discounts,
book fairs, and variety of
other specials. Every
Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.,
they have “BookTalk” where
people from the community
and experts in a particular
field come together to dis
cuss their ideas and impres
sions of books.
First World has two other
locations, one located in the
Greenbriar shopping mall
and the other in Lithonia,
Ga.
The Soul Source Book
store and Cafe is located in
the AUC, across the street
from the Robert W. Woo
druff Library.
The store features a col
lection of publications by
AUC faculty and staff and
also houses books related to
The Soul Source Bookstore
African American culture.
The Source specially orders
of books for individuals, in
stitutions and organizations
that aren’t cu rrently in stock
at the store.
According to Scott Smith,
an AUC student and sales
representative, students re
ceive a five percent discount
on any purchase of $10 or
more.
The Source sponsors au
tograph and promotional
parties for authors of new
books, transmit text book
orders for faculty of the AUC,
works with local libraries to
select and develop special
book collections.
The store also conducts a
national search for books out
of print.
The Shrine of the Black
Madonna Bookstore is
owned by Shrine of the Black
The Shrine of the Black Madonna
Bookstore
Madonna Pan African Or
thodox Christian Church.
A sales representative said
the purpose of the bookstore
is “to promote African Ameri
can awareness.”
The Shrine of the Black
Madonna specializes in
books relating to the Pan
African Experience. They
believe that African Ameri
cans, are a “Covenant Com
munity, they are the people
God—a kingdom of priests—
a Consecrated Nation!”
The Shrine also has books
about economics, literature,
psychology, history, and a
special showcase on Rare
Books and a section entitled
“What’s Hot!” for popular
books.
The bookstore also has
special exhibits on display.
Currently running is “The
Holocaust."
LEAP seeks student volunteers
By Stacy Adams
Staff Writer
The Leadership Empow
erment And Partnership
(LEAP) encorages student
volunteers to serve as posi
tive role models for commu
nity youth.
Located at 612 Walkins
St., near the Vivian
Wilson Henderson gymna
sium, the organization
focuses on helping youths
ages 6-18 of the John Hope
University community.
According to Interim Di
rector, Melvyn Thomas,
LEAP is a local community
service program geared to
bring about
the awareness of drug abuse,
AIDS, crime, and other per
tinent social issues.
Through a host of semi
nars, guest speakers, health
fairs and recreational activi
ties, the program reinforces
the importance of education.
Thomas urges students of
the Atlanta University Cen
ter to work as mentors, tu
tors, and chaperones, for the
program.
He feels that the partici
pants would be more respon -
sive to student
volunteer, “It is crucial to
have volunteers closer to
their age group. They need
to see more role models, es
pecially younger ones,” he
said.
The program is actually
operated by the residents of
the Hope community, “When
[residents] see people in their
c o m -
munity actually having some
input they become more ac
cepting,” Thomas said.
grams is drug awareness,”
Thomas said.
According to Thomas, as a
result of the programs, many
of the children
have developed new
and positive outlooks
and attitudes about their
lives.
Students interested
in volunteering should con
tact Thomas or Richard
Robinson, program coordi
nators at '524-4937.
Project LEAP also
offers lock-ins and
tutorial
services for young
sters in
conjunction with
another commu
nity-based pro
gram, Project Suc
cess.
Both programs
are part of the Uni
versity John Hope
Community Coali
tion, “The main fo
cus of both pro
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