August 5, 2013
S.F. Community Rallies to Ensure That a Black Bookstore Has Another Chapter
By Frederick H. Lowe
Marcus Books is named in honor of Marcus Garvey, according to the bookstore's website.
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from TheNorthStarNews.com
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Two online-petition drives and a rally being held today are trying to prevent a real-estate speculator couple from writing the last chapter of Marcus Books' efforts to remain in its San Francisco neighborhood or even in the city.
Supporters of Marcus Books, which is the nation's oldest black-owned bookstore, view the possible loss of the bookstore as another chapter in which gentrification has pushed out African-American residents and black-owned businesses.
Marcus Books, a fixture in the 1700 block of Fillmore Street since the 1960, has hosted an array of authors, including Malcolm X and Oprah Winfrey. In addition, the bookstore has doubled as a jazz club, where many artists have performed, including John Coltrane. The bookstore is named in honor of Marcus Garvey.
Nationwide, black-owned bookstores have faced significant challenges in the past 14 years because of Internet book sales, poor management and unattractive locations.
Last year, the Alliance for Black Literature and Entertainment, which is based in New York, listed 141 black-owned and independent bookstores that have written "The End" to their business lives.
During a June news conference to spark interest in the challenges facing Marcus Books, Rev. Amos Brown, president of the local NAACP, said that San Francisco has never been "user friendly to blacks." He recalled how blacks in 1858 had to flee San Francisco for British Columbia, Canada, because of racism.
The unfriendly atmosphere is well known. Recently, two white San Francisco cops beat up an off-duty black cop.
Rev. Brown added that the city's black population has dwindled over the past 20 years. San Francisco's black population dropped from 60,000 in 2000 to 48,000 in 2010.
Although this does not cover a 20-year period, the dramatic plunge in the black population underscores Amos' meaning. As of 2012, the city's African Americans comprised 6.1 percent of San Francisco County's population of 825,863, according to the U.S. Census.
Rev. Amos also listed a number of black-owned businesses that are either in trouble or have closed.
ColorofChange.org and Change.org have launched petition drives that are designed to persuade Nishan and Suhaila Sweis, who in an April bankruptcy sale purchased the Victorian that houses Marcus Books.
The petitions are calling for the Sweises, who own Royal and Big Dog cab companies, to sell the Victorian to Westside Community Services, which uses space in the bookstore as a meeting place, mental health center and welfare-to-work services center.
Westside Community Services offered $1.64 million to the Sweises for the building, but they rejected the offer. The couple paid $1.59 million for the Victorian, according various news reports. A real estate firm valued the building at $2.96 million.
The NorthStar News & Analysis attempted to reach the Sweises at one telephone number, but the phone's message bank was full.
NorthStar called a second number, associated with a business owned by the couple, but the person who answered said they were not there. She suggested calling their lawyer in San Mateo, Calif., but she did not have the lawyer's telephone number.
| Marcus Books is named in honor of Marcus Garvey, according to the bookstore's website. |
According to published to news reports, Marcus Books' troubles began in 2006. The Johnsons took out a $950,000 loan to pay operating expenses. The fixed monthly payments and the high interest rate pushed monthly payments to $10,000 a month, and the Johnsons defaulted on the loan. The Johnsons purchased the building in 1994 for $400,000, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Marcus Books has missed at least one deadline with creditors, and Nishan and Suhalia Sweis have asked a judge to evict the bookstore. The Sweises wanted the bookstore evicted by June 18, but the bookstore got a last-minute reprieve.
Marcus Books' supporters are holding a rally today at 1:30 p.m. in front of San Francisco City Hall. They want the city council to pass a resolution ordering Nishan and Suhalia Sweis to sell the building to Westside Community Services.