Father Fills Hunger For Black Heroes, Legacy For Offspring

Blackbird Books

-- Owner: Joseph Antoine-Zimbabwe

-- Location: 3130 E. Madison St.

-- Business: Bookstore specializing in works about African and African-American issues

-- Goal: Expand collection to include Native American works.

-- Tip: Consider your market carefully. Antoine-Zimbabwe chose a location in a high-traffic, ethnically diverse area and credits his success to an ability to sell books to people of all races.

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Where the boundaries of the Central District meet those of Madison Park, an African-American entrepreneur, Joseph Antoine-Zimbabwe, is working to fuel a revolution.

His store, Blackbird Books, specializes in books by African and African-American authors. In 400 square feet, he has crammed nearly 100,000 volumes that delve into everything from literature and art to history, politics and social issues.

The collection represents a fraction of all the works available, he says. Limited space keeps him from adding more.

The store lets Antoine-Zimbabwe, 58, fulfill his hunger for African-American culture and spread awareness of African-American authors and issues among customers of all races.

But Antoine-Zimbabwe's dream of revolution goes beyond selling books.

In many ways, he sees his tiny shop as a foundation on which his children and future generations could build a multimillion dollar company that would provide jobs not only for other African-Americans but for anyone who has felt isolated in a predominantly white work environment.

``Right now,'' he says, ``if you're African-American, you can get a degree, earn an income and go into business but you can't find very many black-owned companies where you can go to work.''

Perhaps, he adds, ``A business like my store could provide an honest solution to that. You take a family business and start it small. Over the years, build up experience in running a business and draw some income to educate the next generation in what it takes to run a business.''

The business would grow under the next generation, and, perhaps, expand in other directions, he adds. Over time, it would become a viable community employer, and because it would be run by non-whites, the workplace environment would feel more comfortable for people of color.

``You create an opportunity to offer something to people who want to understand and identify with African-American culture,'' he says.

For now, Antoine-Zimbabwe's children, Christine and Rebekah, 9 and 8, respectively, are too young to work. And Blackbird Books itself is young and still struggling. Since Antoine-Zimbabwe opened the shop in March 1989, he consistently has worked weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

He has two part-time employees, but because the shop is open seven days a week, he often finds himself working weekends as well.

The store had sales of $105,000 in its first full year of business but only began to earn a profit in the past few months. Antoine-Zimbabwe's family bills, he is quick to admit, are paid largely out of his wife's income as a counselor to prison inmates.

``I guess my goal is to live long enough to see my children use the shop as a springboard to do even more,'' he says.

Unlike many bookstores, Blackbird Books does not have the dimly lit, musty smell of older books. Instead, it is well-lit and airy. Though small, it is literally dust-free, and as customers browse, jazz music plays softly. Notices of upcoming African-American community events are displayed on windows.

Many customers say they visit the store not only to buy books but also to talk politics with Antoine-Zimbabwe and check out upcoming events.

Take Cynthia Waller, a psychiatric nurse. Waller is white, but her 7-year-old son's father is African-American. While searching for a way to expose her son to his heritage, she discovered Blackbird Books.

``It's a wonderful bookstore,'' she says. ``I've met other customers and gotten into long discussions there, and Joseph is like a role model for my son.''

Katalina Montero, who is Chicana, began visiting the store to look for books that would help some of the troubled children whom she counsels. Now, she shops regularly for herself.

``It's an opportunity to get to know what the black community is about, and through reading the history of the black people, I have come to understand the history of my people.''

For Antoine-Zimbabwe, the idea to start a bookstore came seven years ago while he was working as a church pastor and running a homeless shelter in Los Angeles. At the time, it seemed that the poverty, domestic violence and drug abuse he continually saw was related to a lack of knowledge.

The victims whom he tried to help didn't read because it was difficult to find literature that appealed to them, books that provided role models.

Antoine-Zimbabwe also recalled the cultural isolation he had felt in previous jobs, working as a draftsman. At work, when colleagues would discuss popular music, books and movies, Antoine-Zimbabwe would remain silent. He never felt comfortable discussing the African-American heroes he had discovered in the literature and culture of his heritage.

``I felt I led a double life, keeping who I really was all bottled up,'' he says, fingering a pair of eyeglasses. ``I guess I've always wanted to surround myself with artifacts of my heritage.''

After moving to Seattle three years ago, Antoine-Zimbabwe sold some property he owned in California to raise $50,000 to start the bookstore. He then began working odd jobs while attending seminars on starting a new business.

Although the store now stocks mostly books related to African-American issues, Antoine-Zimbabwe says he chose to call the store Blackbird Books in hopes that his collection eventually would represent both African-American and Native American writers. Blackbird refers to the chief of a Native American tribe, he says, as well as to black jazz musician Charlie Parker, nicknamed ``Bird.''

His efforts to expand his selection of Native American titles has been limited, though, by his lack of knowledge of various authors.

While his business cards show the ``A'' in Blackbird in red to symbolize his interest in Native American works, Antoine Zimbabwe admits he has been hoping customers will help him find more titles.

Although the shop is on Madison Street about three blocks east of the edge of the Central District, a predominantly African-American neighborhood, it is in a shopping center and is not immediately visible. And even if drivers do spot it, finding a place to park can be tough.

But to retail consultant Dick Outcalt, of Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, the locale makes sense. Customers who know the shop is there will visit if it offers a pleasant environment, he says, and are likely to drop in at other shops in the area.

``He has a destination kind of retail spot that works well in that environment,'' says Outcalt. ``Customers will come to you if you can show you offer something better, something different.''

Antoine-Zimbabwe adds that he chose the site because he realized it would draw an ethnically diverse clientele.

``It's hard to cut off any part of the world and still be well-informed,'' he says. ``Here, I'm in a site that bridges many communities.''

Small Business Snapshot appears occasionally in the Business Monday section of The Seattle Times.