Bookshop tells the story of
POWERFUL FEMALE FIGURES – ud g iʦ
BY JENNIFER AMATO
J
eannine A. Cook recently did a photoshoot with the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, which required getting on horseback for the first time. The club is known for the movie “Concrete Cowboy” inspired by a teen who forms a friendship with a group of Black cowboys in Philadelphia. Next up, Cook is looking forward to riding with Kareem Rosser – his own version of the sort. What will make that ride so special? Rosser is the man who eventually became part of the first all-Black national interscholastic polo championship team – something unique and special, since polo is tradition-
ally a White-dominated sport. In his 20s, Rosser wrote his memoir “Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Them Forever.” His childhood in West Philadelphia was tumultuous; while riding through Fairmount Park he came across a barn of horses and wound up working at The Work to Ride stables. It changed his life. And hoping to change others’ lives, Cook is trying to schedule an opportunity with the Fletcher Club so she and her youth conductors (interns) can ride horseback to distribute books to neighborhoods in Philadelphia and Camden. “Imagine being a child and some person comes by on horse and gives you a book – you’ll never forget that book,” she said. Cook hopes to increase the love of reading and increase the value of it. As such, she will be taking part in the
PHIDELITY RECORDS 12 Haddon Ave. Haddon Township NJ 08108 (856) 240-1522 Instagram/Facebook @phidelityrecords We want to buy your records. No collection is too big or too small. NM-00472075
FALL 2021
12
Collingswood Book Festival on Oct. 2, facilitating a discussion with Rosser. Cook mentioned the dialogue will include understanding the history of horse riding, especially in the Black community. Coincidentally, she recently learned that Harriet Tubman would take a master’s horse as she helped people escape slavery. So, Cook decided she wanted to know more about the deep relationships horses have had with communities, and Rosser is the perfect person to explain. Those relationships are extremely important to Cook, who opened Ida’s Bookshop on Haddon Avenue earlier this year. The shop name was inspired by journalist, activist and researcher Ida B. Wells; which follows in the opening of Harriett’s Bookshop (yes, two “T”s) in Philadelphia last year, inspired by Harriet Tubman, who saved dozens of slaves from captivity. As an educator and artist, Cook said her mission is to celebrate female artists, authors and activists. “I have been all three, to some degree,” she said. Cook described opening a bookstore as a “calling” and also part of her lineage, as her mother was a librarian. In college, Cook created a club that would go out into neighborhoods and storytell with families on the blocks. “So I don’t think it’s so far off to end up in a bookshop,” she said. On Feb. 1, 2020, Cook opened Harriett’s – and the shop was open just six weeks before the pandemic closed the doors of the business. She recalled having thousands of visitors to the Philadelphia location, including a Community Circle, music and poetry – and yet it has been “quite the rollercoaster since”. While shut down for six months, Cook said she took the furniture out of the bookstore, brought books down to the corner, and through an honor system, made the books grab-and-go. “People were needing, I believe, an outlet. And they needed a way to read. … Reading is a means of self-care and wellness,” she said. According to Cook, there was an influx of orders because of societal issues. She said people recognized a level of ignorance on please see BOOKSHOP, page 13 08108
