Bookshop on horsback

Bookshop tells the story of POWERFUL FEMALE FIGURES – ud g iʦ

BY JENNIFER AMATO

Jeannine 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 traditionally 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 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

ally a White-dominated sport.

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, activ-

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certain topics dealing with history and the context of race relations. Cook described literature as serving a means of information so people can be better citizens. Last fall, she recalled making a post hypothesizing about needing a bookshop named Ida’s in 2021. She doesn’t quite know why she made that statement, but said after that, she “got a feeling” and felt she should look into it. She thought, why not?

Cook then traveled to Mississippi to learn about Wells.

“I needed to walk her footsteps and learn what it was like for her,” she said, noting that coincidentally, Wells’s parents were killed during a pandemic in the 1800s.

“My hope is her walk, her legacy, can be one people can be inspired by,” Cook said.

Ida’s Bookshop opened at 734 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, with a soft launch on July 4, though Cook has not been able to hold a true grand opening yet.

“It’s almost like visiting an aunt, when you come into the shop,” she described.

She said there are few bookshelves and a minimalist collection curated for the month, plus she co-curates with a specific artist each month.

Cook said she constantly changes how the interior looks, which is something she realized she did as a young child with her own bedroom.

“It makes for a very unique experience,” Cook said, “and a reason to come back.”

She also created a Think Tank wall for children; kids can look at the aquatic wallpaper or browse through the books and tell her what they are thinking.

She said she wants to engage everyone in dialogue, and see what questions arise.

“I’m thinking of ways to use the space to engage beyond,” Cook said.

A lover of all literature, Cook said her favorite authors are Zora Neale Hurston, Octavia Butler, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, who are featured on her favorite piece of “merch”: a T-shirt with the names “Zora Octavia Alice Toni.”

She said visitors are intrigued by the shirt and are then inspired to read their collections.

“Those authors engage who I truly am,” Cook said. “My foundational literary mothers.”

A resident of Philly since she was 17 years old, Cook said she loves hometown authors, too, such as poet Sonia Sanchez, third Poet Laureate of Philadelphia Yolanda Wisher and Ursula Rucker.

“They have done work on a local level, and now Collingswood is meeting the local literary needs,” she said.

Cook said this kind of action creates informed citizenry.

“You can’t do a good job running the country if you’re not informed,” she said, citing the essential need of having a dia-

BOOKSHOP continued from page 12 logue-based democracy. Cook believes people can be informed by fiction, through which they meet a new character or learn about why people make decisions; or by non-fiction, where they learn about new topics.

“There’s much work to be done … and if there’s a world you’d like to create, maybe you can create it,” she said. “Bookshops provide a home base, but they also do a lot outside of the four walls.”

Harriett’s Bookshop is located at 258 E. Girard Ave., Philadelphia. For more information, visit https://www.harriettsbookshop. com/

Ida’s Bookshop is located at 734 Haddon Ave., Collingswood. For more information, visit https://www.idasbookshop.com/ ■

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