President Barack Obama virtually surprised members of MahoganyBooks & Very Smart Brothas Book Club
The Californer/10118337

WASHINGTON - Californer -- The MahoganyBooks and Very Smart Brothas Book Club was taken by surprise when President Barack Obama showed up for their discussion of his memoir, "A Promised Land." The surprise visit was featured on The Today Show and on the former President's social media platforms. 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 discussion took a light-hearted turn when he was asked about Michelle Obama's inauguration outfit. The book club is co-founded by Derrick and Ramunda Young, owners of MahoganyBooks an independent Black-owned bookstore in Washington, DC and co-founder of Very Smart Brothers.com, Panama Jackson.

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"This was a defining moment in our bookstore journey. To have the President speak directly with our book club members who are some of our most diligent supporters was pure joy and an honor we'll never forget. To share this experience with our community allows it to be bigger than us and that's important to my husband and I.  We're looking forward to seeing all of our supporters as well as President Barack Obama in person once the pandemic ends," said Derrick and Ramunda Young, co-founders and co-owners of MahoganyBooks."

Pre-pandemic, the book club would meet at MahoganyBooks, located in the historic Anacostia community on the first Friday of each month. The 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.

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The book club recently met in advance of the store's upcoming Black History Month celebrations. The group has not met formally since the pandemic started, making this their first official virtual meeting since the pandemic began.

About MahoganyBooks

Started in 2007 by husband and wife, Derrick and Ramunda Young, MahoganyBooks is the fastest growing online bookstore for people of the African Diaspora. It has grown from being exclusively an online bookstore to opening the doors of their first physical location in the historic Washington, DC neighborhood of Anacostia. Over the years, MahoganyBooks has connected readers to writers for exciting and thought-provoking literary events with the likes of U.S. Representative John Lewis, Walter Mosley, Chimamanda Adichie, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Misty Copeland and D.C.'s "Mayor for Life" Marion Barry among others.