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Una Mulzac (April 19, 1923 – January 21, 2012) was an African American bookseller and founder of the Liberation Bookstore, a prominent African-American bookstore specializing in political and Black Power materials and was located in Harlem.Douglas Martin
"Una Mulzac, Bookseller With Passion for Black Politics, Dies at 88"
'' New York Times'', February 4, 2012.
A year after to returning to Harlem from British Guiana, Mulzac opened the Liberation Bookstore in 1967. The Liberation Bookstore has been compared to Lewis Michaux's African National Memorial Bookstore.
"Una Mulzac, Black Woman Booksellers, and Pan-Africanism,"
''Black Perspectives'', September 19, 2016. *Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
''Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America''
Little Brown, 2011, .
"Last Chapter Draws Near at Mainstay Harlem Bookstore"
''Columbia Spectator'', October 31, 2003. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulzac 1923 births 2012 deaths American booksellers American people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent American people of Jamaican descent Businesspeople from Baltimore Businesspeople from New York City 20th-century American businesspeople Girls' High School alumni People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American businesspeople
"Una Mulzac, Bookseller With Passion for Black Politics, Dies at 88"
'' New York Times'', February 4, 2012.
Personal life
Una Mulzac was born inBaltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
, but raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Hugh Mulzac
Hugh Nathaniel Mulzac (March 26, 1886 – January 30, 1971) was an African-Caribbean member of the United States Merchant Marine. He earned a Master rating in 1918, which should have qualified him to command a ship, but racial discrimination pre ...
, was a socialist and the first black commander of a ship in the United States Merchant Marine. She grew up in Bedford–Stuyvesant, where she graduated from Girls' High School. Mulzac briefly worked as a secretary for Random House. In 1963, Mulzac moved to British Guiana
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...
, where she joined the People's Progressive Party and ran their bookstore in the capital of Georgetown. She was injured in a bomb attack at the Progressive Book Store. Mulzac was on the executive board of the Harlem chapter of the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
. Her grand nephew is Sharrif Simmons, a poet and songwriter.
Liberation Bookstore
A year after to returning to Harlem from British Guiana, Mulzac opened the Liberation Bookstore in 1967. The Liberation Bookstore has been compared to Lewis Michaux's African National Memorial Bookstore.
Further reading
*Joshua Clark Davis. ''From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs.'' Columbia University Press, 2017, *Joshua Clark Davis"Una Mulzac, Black Woman Booksellers, and Pan-Africanism,"
''Black Perspectives'', September 19, 2016. *Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
''Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America''
Little Brown, 2011, .
Notes
External links
* * * Jacob McKean"Last Chapter Draws Near at Mainstay Harlem Bookstore"
''Columbia Spectator'', October 31, 2003. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulzac 1923 births 2012 deaths American booksellers American people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent American people of Jamaican descent Businesspeople from Baltimore Businesspeople from New York City 20th-century American businesspeople Girls' High School alumni People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American businesspeople