Participants had been told they were meeting with someone from President Obama’s Administration.

Conversation topics ranged from President Obama’s unwavering sense of optimism, how to speak with children about reaching “A Promised Land,” and his advice for pushing away feelings of unpreparedness and uncertainty.

The MahoganyBooks and Very Smart Brothas Book Club is a monthly book club that began in November 2018. It was co-founded by Derrick and Ramunda Young, owners of MahoganyBooks an independent Black-owned bookstore in Washington, DC & The Root’s writer, Panama Jackson.

Community and authentic conversations are extremely important to the Youngs, and Derrick wanted to collaborate with Jackson to host discussions around Black books and invite area residents to participate. The name of the book club is both the bookstore’s name and Jackson’s section of The Root for which he writes. Pre-pandemic, they would meet at MahoganyBooks (1231 Good Hope Road SE, Washington, DC) on the first Friday of each month and discuss the book they have read for the month in a very casual, entertaining, and often enlightening manner. Books they have read include Yuval Taylor’s Zora & Langston, Damon Young’s What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, Heavy by Kiese Laymon, Zora Neale Hurston’s Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, All About Love by Bell Hooks, More than Enough by Elaine Welteroth, and many more.

The book club met on January 26th in advance of the store’s upcoming Black History Month celebrations. During the virtual meeting of the book club, members were surprised by a very special guest: President Obama. The group has not met formally since the pandemic started, making this their first official virtual meeting since the pandemic began.

About MahoganyBooks

MahoganyBooks is a local independent bookstore in Washington, DC that believes in social entrepreneurship. They take a leadership role in the African American community by promoting reading, writing, and cultural awareness as tools to improve self-esteem, self-love and ultimately our communities to enrich the lives of motivated individuals. Founded in 2007 as an online bookseller by an enterprising husband and wife duo, Derrick and Ramunda Young, MahoganyBooks met the literary needs of readers nationwide in search of books written for, by, or about people of the African Diaspora. For the first ten years, they were solely online and engaged authors, book clubs, conferences and publishers to ensure Black Books were accessible to anyone eager to read about Black culture. In 2017, they opened the doors to their very first physical location in Washington, DC. This award-winning independent bookstore represents Derrick and Ramunda's love for culture, community and connection and their desire to see books empower others as it had empowered them.