Bookstores, to me, have always been a second home. I love everything about them. I love the smell of old rusty books. I love the rows and rows of stories stored on glossy, hardwood oak shelves. I love the welcoming workers, always ready to lend out a recommendation or lead the way to a tale that will change your life. And what I love the most: The people. Bookstores have a way of cultivating a group full of people who have a certain kind of hunger that can only be tamed through pages of ink.
I also love cafes–who doesn’t like a good cup of coffee?
So in the spirit of books, uncles, and Black History Month, I decided to visit a black-owned bookstore called Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books to get the best of both worlds.
Mark Lamont Hill, the founder of Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books, opened up the bookstore in 2017 in memory of his late uncle, Bobbie Lee Hill. Growing up, it was his uncle who fostered his love of reading and taught him to challenge the world he had been thrust into–and to understand the world even better through Black books and Black stories. Because of this, Hill opened this store with the intention of making it a community-filled place, as well as a place that is filled with Black voices and stories, to give to the area what his uncle had given to him.
Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books is a cafe-bookstore hybrid made to fit the community of Germantown. Filled with a range of literature from children’s books to literary classics, with an emphasis on Black authors, Uncle Bobbie’s is a place that invites Black readers, writers– everyone to come in and get lost in the hundreds of books and a small cup of coffee (maybe 2) with open arms.
On Wednesday, with 20 bucks and a dream, I grabbed my friend and headed off to Uncle Bobbie’s. From the minute I walked in, I was greeted with a comfortable hum of murmurs and the scent of espresso floating in the air. To my right was a display of Beloved by Toni Morrison and a few other books on a shelf. Right by my head was a blown-up poem by Nikki Giovanni called Nikki-Rosa. As I looked around, I saw that the store was already well-filled. We arrived around 12:30 pm, not the silent hour by any means, but it was more crowded than we expected for the time. After looking around at the front area and quickly browsing their menu, my friend and I ordered some drinks and a few pastries, then headed over to a seat by the window to settle in.
As we dug into our snacks, we sat and spectated the life of the shop. We witnessed a mini-rush, and I sent out my thoughts and prayers to the barista as a barista myself. We noticed the people around us, ranging from a young teenage girl who accompanied her latte with her homework, to a pair of older women browsing around and debating on which book they would love to indulge in for the day. We saw the way the workers interacted so comfortably and familiarly, not just with each other– but with some of the customers as well. Within the span of 30 minutes, we came to see Uncle Bobbie’s as a staple within the Germantown community. The solace felt in the space was not something that you could fabricate– it is impossible to feign the complete air of comfort that was exuded by everyone who walked in.
Something that both my friend and I had noticed as well was that it was the first time we were seeing so many black people in this area of Philly. Seriously. Keep in mind that I am speaking as someone born and raised in New York, with my main exposure of Philly being little Glenside and the occasional trip into Center City. For both my friend and me, it was something that we didn’t see often, if not at all. It’s amazing how the seeds that Hill had planted for this store, now just a few years later, have fully ripened and become a space safe for black people to just be.
The more that I sat, the more curious I became about the inner workings of the shop. I wondered what the place means to someone who frequents here, and the impact of Uncle Bobbie’s on someone who is around to see it grow day-to-day. So I sat down with one of the workers, Brandon Moulden, and talked about what this place means to him, along with a few other things.
As a worker at Uncle Bobbie’s for a year and some change, Moulden said that what drew him to this job was the shared values of everyone in the space. As an artist himself, it was imperative to him that he be in a space that was well aligned with literature, art, and culture. I asked him how he likes the space of this coffee-bookshop, how it interacts with the community, and how the community interacts with it. Moulden replied, “I think I like that it just feels safe. We get so many people here throughout the week who aren’t just coming in for a cup of coffee. They’re coming to be around people who either look like them and/or stand for what they stand for. And I think that is something kind of beautiful in itself, that we are able to provide for the neighborhood.”
While the time was steadily moving, my friend and I had to leave to make it to our next class. (Spoiler: We were 30 minutes late…) As we started packing up our stuff, I took one last look around and took in the magic of the space, and made plans to hopefully come back once more. After everything we saw and experienced, I think their slogan stands tried and true– it was full of cool people, dope books, and definitely great coffee. Thank you to everyone who is a part of the Uncle Bobbie’s crew and who put so much effort into making the shop a safe space for anyone to walk in– and specifically for black people to feel comfortable to just be without a hint of fear looming over them. And a super-duper special thanks to Brandon Moulden for taking the time to sit down and chat with me!
(PS. Also, there was no way I was leaving without asking Moulden for his top 5 books– what kind of bookfreak would I be if I didn’t? Here are some of the books he named:
O Sinners! By Nicole Cuffy
Sula by Toni Morrison
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Black in Blues by Iman Perry
Where Are You Really From by Elaine Hsieh Chou
And with an honorable mention to,
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee.
After our conversation, I picked up some books that were on my TBR, and made it a goal to come back and pick up a few that Moulden recommended.)
