“Books from the Library of Dr. Maya Angelou.”
That’s what a sign reads on the red-painted wall in the back of the bookshop at Third Eye Books Accessories & Gifts. It’s one of the few Black-owned bookstores in Portland, Oregon.
The red shelf is special. Sitting on the shelf from Angelou’s library is a Barbie of Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot’s license. Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks is also there in Barbie form, along with Angelou herself and NAACP co-founder Ida B. Wells.
There’s one book on the shelf that’s exceptional if you ask owner Charles Hannah to open it. The blue book is “Rays of the Dawn” by Thurman Fleet. But it’s the words found on the inside of the cover that will blow you away.
“To Maya, with love. Alice.”
That’s Alice, as in Walker.
While you expect items from Angelou’s library collection to be with her family or preserved in a museum, some of these treasures are found inside the bookshop, which has become a special space to inspire, restore, and enhance cultural pride. But this wasn’t the original plan.
From Books On A Table To A Brick-And-Mortar
Hannah’s wife, Michelle Lewis, is a holistic, Afrocentric wellness practitioner who provides culturally specific mental health services to the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community. Him and Lewis were ready to enter a space where they could free themselves from the corporate rat race. Lewis was already in partnership with the company Natural Girls Rock as a vendor, and she also made body butter and oils. Together, the two went on to sell their products at a local church fair. As they prepared for the event, Hannah recalls Lewis asking him to bring some of their books to sell as well.
“The t-shirts, necklaces, and earrings were selling good, but when people got to the books, they said, ‘Where is more of this stuff at?’ We sold half our books during our first event,” says Hannah.
The recurring questions from customers at these vending events kept coming back to one thing: was there a physical bookstore? It was a sign for Hannah and Lewis to move forward with serving the community in this capacity.
Hannah and Lewis opened their first bookstore by converting a back room in their home. It started out open to just family and close friends, but word spread, and they quickly needed more space.
Hannah asked his mentor, who ran a community development center, if they could use the conference room for a bookstore. He said yes, and the duo proceeded with a bookstore that was only open on weekends. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic led to the closure of the bookstore after the owners sold the building. Luckily for Hannah and Lewis, they had a website.
“When we first opened the business, everyone said we needed a website. We didn’t get an order for over a year and a half, but we started averaging at least four orders a day during the pandemic,” says Lewis.
How Third Eye Books, Accessories, & Gifts Nurture Spiritual Health
When you ask Hannah and Lewis what they’re proud of the most, they will tell you it’s the partnerships that have allowed them to share books with tens of thousands of people.
“We partnered with Regina Jackson and Saira Rao, authors of ‘White Women. Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better’ on International Women’s Day 2023. We gave the book out for free to anyone in the United States. 51,000 people ordered this book in one day on our website,” says Hannah.
Third Eye Books Accessories & Gifts has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a table section at Hannah and Lewis’s early vending events. They have expanded into two buildings that embody their collective focus on the mind, body, and soul. The mind portion is located in the bookstore, while the body and soul focus can be found in the adjacent building.
Lewis, a Reiki Master, Sacred Woman Practitioner, and Vibration Sound Therapist, offers services to enhance mental, physical, and spiritual well-being through various services. Alongside her special leaf teas, guests can also find body butter, incense, oils, and more.
Their next mission is to continue their growth and purchase their next building to own.
