Black History didn't start with slavery

​This post is not just about business ...
it's personal.
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Customer:  There's so much about our history that I'm just now learning about.  With so many books to choose from, where should I start?

Me:  "From The Browder File"  by Anthony T. Browder
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This is the book I've recommended more than any other in my bookselling career when people have begun to question the traditional education received in the U.S.
And time after time, the feedback is glorious.
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When I first met this author, it was in the early 1990's.  He just walked into our bookstore AfriWare Books, Gifts & Cultural Events and asked about the newsletter I had on a tabletop.  We laugh about this to this day because he called me out for physically "copy and pasting" the images from his book  onto the newsletter.  What are the chances that the author of a bookwill  stop in the store?  Well, that happened, and after I "confessed my sins", we've been friends ever since.

​The clarity and deep understanding he provides in essay after essay makes up for years of lost time wasted in the typical history class.  Each essay is chock full of lesser known facts and impeccably backed up by references.  He often says in his lectures, search the information for yourself and he provides the tools to do so. 

The reason I say this book is personal is because in it is an illustration and description of the very image that was a catalyst to my unplanned and abrupt exit out of corporate America.  The people of Africa were depicted by a gorilla in a cartoon in the company magazine at AT&T where I worked as a Systems Engineer.  The Black employees erupted.  I began to understand the deep seated stereotypes that existed in the company and felt I was wasting my time trying to "convince" them I earned the right to be there.  I could see with my own eyes the lack of respect they had for our people and their foolish behavior that made it okay to publish such rubbish. 
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Seeing this picture a few years later in his book helped me to understand and appreciate even more the value of telling our own stories.  

"From the Browder File" is a captivating read and the author is a spellbinding storyteller and orator.  Over the years he has consistently packed the bookstore house by unraveling the lies that have been told down to the cellular level.  To paraphrase that "Hair club" commercial from back in the day, "I'm not only the bookstore owner, I'm also a client" and I love love loved reading and learning from this phenomenal cultural work of art.

In closing I will encourage you to visit Anthony T. Browder facebook page to find out more about his current projects in film, archeology, field trips and so much more .  He has protected and defended the honor of our Ancestors as a top tier cultural ambassador.

If you haven't already gotten a copy of this book, I do hope you'll consider visiting our website as I'll provide details below.  And, thank you reader for lending me your time, interest and attention.

Want to Learn More?

Want to Learn More?​As always, I appreciate that you have read through this blog post.  I hope that you’ve become curious to find out more about our rich history before enslavement starting with, "From the Browder  File" by Anthony T. Browder.  We ask that you consider purchasing your books from our Black owned business, Afriware Books, Co.  If there is a title you’d like to purchase that is not mentioned here, or could not be found on the website, feel free to email us at:  [email protected]