OUR STORY

Black people have always had to find love through the worst of times. Through chattel slavery. Through Reconstruction’s broken promises. Through Jim Crow. Through redlining and segregation. Through mass incarceration and state violence. The long fight for civil rights is still not finished.

And we are living in one of those times again.

In a moment marked by rising anti-Blackness, book bans, attacks on DEI, Islamophobia, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and a political climate that feels determined to erase hard-fought progress, we are once again being asked to endure more than we should have to.

Still, we build joy. Still, we build softness inside systems that were never meant to hold us gently.

As a lifelong reader, I felt that tension on the page. I love stories that stretch our thinking and push us toward collective liberation. And I love romance. But growing up, the love stories I found rarely reflected people who looked like me. Black stories, especially in the historical romance genre, which is my favorite, were hard to come by. It often felt like we were allowed to survive history, but not to live and love fully in it.

Discovering writers like Beverly Jenkins shifted something in me. Her stories centered Black characters as complex, joyful, and deserving of love. That representation was not just refreshing. It was necessary.

For years, I applied to work at bookstores and never got a call back. At the same time, I knew I wanted to build something of my own. I originally imagined an interior design firm because I love creating intentional spaces. It took time to realize I could combine all of it. My love of books. My desire for ownership. My commitment to representation.

On August 31, 2020, Sscarlet’s Web was born.

I opened during what many of us believed was another racial awakening. In the wake of global protests and renewed conversations about systemic injustice, it felt like change was not only possible but necessary. I believed then, and still believe now, that we needed intentional spaces that centered our voices, our stories, and our humanity.

Sscarlet’s Web is a curated bookstore amplifying Black, Indigenous, Muslim, Refugee, and Immigrant voices across genres and age groups, including romance, fantasy, literary fiction, children’s books, memoirs, and thrillers. We believe our stories belong everywhere.

If you have ever struggled to find books that reflect the fullness of who you are, this space was created with you in mind.

Sscarlet’s Web is more than a pop-up or an online shop. The vision is to open a physical location in the Brooklyn I grew up in and love. A city of diversity. A melting pot of cultures and identities. A community-centered bookstore where people can read, gather, attend events, and enjoy thoughtfully crafted nonalcoholic drinks in a space designed with care.

There is an Ethiopian proverb that says, “When spiders unite, they can tie up a lion.” It reminds us that small, consistent efforts, when woven together, become powerful. That spirit embodies what we hope to build at Sscarlet’s Web. A web strong enough to hold a community. A web built thread by thread, reader by reader.

As a Black Muslim woman, I want to build a place where I can show up fully and where others with intersectional identities feel safe, seen, and comfortable.

Because we deserve abundance. On our shelves. In our stories. In our lives.

Stay Reading! Stay Learning!

Welcome to the Web.📚