James D. Watts Jr.
Aug 9, 2020
One wall of Fulton Street Books & Coffee is decorated with lyrics from some of owner Onikah Asamoa-Caesar’s favorite songs.
One of those songs is “Strange Fruit,” the eerily mournful song about the lynching of Black men in the South that became a signature tune for jazz legend Billie Holliday.
But the fact that Nina Simone is credited with the song on Fulton Street’s wall is representative of what Asamoa-Caesar wants to accomplish at her establishment, which opened to the public in July.
“Billie Holliday popularized the song, even though some thought it was too controversial at the time,” Asamoa-Caesar said. “There was one man (Harry Anslinger, who at the time was the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics), who was determined to silence this song, and he set out to ruin Holliday’s career, and her life.
“When Billie Holliday died, broke and chained to a bed in a New York hospital, I’m sure this man thought he had silenced that song for good,” she said. “Then, years later, Nina Simone brings that song back to life. I like to think that man was turning over in his grave.”
In fact, Anslinger was still alive when Simone’s version of “Strange Fruit” was released in 1965, during the height of the civil rights movement.
But that idea of history that determinedly refuses to go quietly away is one that fueled the creation of Fulton Street Books.
“That is the significance of this space,” Asamoa-Caesar said. “This community was burned to the ground in 1921, and so many things were put into place to keep this community from ever coming back. And now we are seeing a beautiful resurgence, and we want to be a part of that effort to reclaim that legacy of Black Wall Street.”
Some might ask why Asamoa-Caesar chose to set up her shop several miles west of the historic Greenwood District at 210 W. Latimer St.
“People tend to believe that Black Wall Street was this one little street,” she replied. “But the Black community covered 40 square acres, which reached all the way to where we are located. It’s a way to help people realize just how much was destroyed.”
Fulton Street Books & Coffee is an independent bookstore that specializes in fiction and nonfiction by people of color, as well as from other marginalized segments of society.
“I’ve had some people come in and look around and say, ‘You don’t have any of the classics here,’” Asamoa-Caesar said. “I’ll ask them for examples, and they always mention works by white authors.
“We’re trying to change that narrative, that our literature is white-centered,” she said. “We want to be able to have a reasonably well-read person come into this store and be introduced to authors and narratives that were not a part of their education. I think almost anyone who visits this store is going to find things that surprise them in a good way.”
One of the ways Fulton Street Books has gone about realizing that goal was with a program it called Ally Boxes, where those who subscribe would, over the course of three months, receive two books dealing with Black history, social justice, racism, and other topics, along with other materials such as access to online discussions.
“That came about when we were seeing a lot of people having a new interest in the history of this country and the systems that created the environment in which people like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were killed,” Asamoa-Caesar said. “People wanted to know what they could read to begin to understand, and this was a way to provide them some kind of guidance.”
The Ally Boxes are currently sold out, but there is a waiting list where people can sign up on the store’s website, fultonstreet918.com.
While opening minds through literature is a big part of Asamoa-Caesar’s mission for Fulton Street Books, she said she also hopes to give visitors a sense of coming home when they enter her store.
That is why Asamoa-Caesar chose to name her business Fulton Street, even though there is no Fulton Street in Tulsa (there is a Fulton Avenue and Fulton Place, but no street).
“Fulton Street was where my grandmother’s house was located in Elizabeth, New Jersey,” she said. “When I was young, I was separated from my family and ended up as a ward of the court in California. It wasn’t until I was in college that I was able to reconnect with my family.
“I had a cousin bring me to my grandmother’s home on Fulton Street, and once I arrived, my Aunt Daisy started telling me all sorts of stories about me being a baby. It gave me a sense of home that I thought I would never experience.”
When Asamoa-Caesar and her husband, Kojo, who is a candidate for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, settled in Tulsa, she said they wanted to create a place that would give visitors that sense of homecoming.
“I want people to have that feeling, that I’ve come home, that I belong here,” she said. “I can see when people have that reaction, and that’s beautiful to me.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for Asamoa-Caesar to be able to have Fulton Street Books be a gathering place.
“We can’t open our cafe because it wouldn’t be safe,” she said. “And keeping people safe is a priority. We require people to wear masks, and we have hand sanitizing stations set up. I see it as another way of helping to take care of my community.”