ecently I had the pleasure of interviewing Judah Dwyer, co-owner of The African Outlet in San Francisco, California. During my time in her shop, numerous visitors came and went, reinforcing the community vibe that the shop has, with a steady stream of people coming and going. At the end of our visit, someone came in to see if they had any cola nuts, and Judah offered some to me. “When you bring cola, you bring life,” she said, welcoming me into the store and the African culture.

 

E: "Could you please tell me a bit about the African Outlet? How it was started, and how you feel about this place?"

J:“It started actually in 1989 in a little closet on Divisadero Street, where Horgan and I stood in the back, shoulder to shoulder, and three people could come in. We had Dutch doors, thank goodness… I don’t know why I say that, it’s just if you had to close the door, you don’t have to close it all of the way, you could still have ventilation if nothing else, and things were spilling out, and it was fine, it was a lot of fun. If someone wanted to try something on, everybody had to get out [laughing]. We did close the door completely! It was a real African stall.”

 

E:"At the time you opened, did you feel there was a large demand for it, or was it missing from the area?"

J: “No, actually it was a rather a bit of a hotbed on Divisadero Street. There were at least seven or eight businesses from Oak all the way to Geary on Divisadero. There was plenty- there was a lot going on- for people to come to the street specifically for that [African goods] to go shopping and find what they wanted to find. It was kind of neat. It’s all gone now, except for one business, Your Scents- it’s still there.”

 

E: "So you’re one of the very few survivors."

J: “Yeah, that seems to be true! I mean, we did move…but in the East Bay too- a lot of places have gone and a couple of places have popped up…Point Reyes is a wonderful place apparently, and I think there might be a still a couple in Oakland, but it’s definitely not what it used to be. No, not at all…”

 

E: "What made you decide to open your shop?"

J: “Horgan and I wanted to go into business together, and I was not about the corner store business, you know what I mean? Quite frankly, I was always the one that said I didn’t want to own anything, or be owned by anything. So, if I was going to take that step, for me personally, I really wanted to be passionate about. So we started talking about representing his part of the world, just letting people know what’s going on, and give them an opportunity for it become a part of their lives as well.”

 

E: "Since you guys wanted to bring a little bit of Horgan’s culture to the area, how do you feel that your store has changed or shaped the neighborhoods that you’ve been in?"

J: “I think what’s unique about the African Outlet is that it lets people be a part of- not necessarily even see it- but be a part of. As soon as you walk in, the place embraces you, I think. So it lets anyone who comes in the door be a part of an ambiance and of cultures that have introductions in other locations…but this just…it takes you in. [smiling and laughing] It takes me in everyday and you know, I’ve been a part of it from the beginning. And I know, other people really say that, and people just come to get a “hit” if nothing else, and then they leave, and say thank you. It’s kind of nice that way. We have grown in our scope also, originally it was Nigeria, and through friends that we met who would go home and come back, we gradually got introduced to more and more cultures, more and more different areas, ourselves being embraced by the whole continent. It has been a lovely process.”

 

E: "So that feeling of being embraced, how were you first introduced or embraced to the African culture?"

J: “It was a really long time ago. My father was president of a private girl’s junior college down south, in Mississippi in the 50s, and there was a white man who’d been to Ethiopia for five years. He came back to Mississippi of all places. I do not know what possessed him to come to the south, but lo and behold he did. And somehow, my father and he met at some luncheon or something like that, and the gentleman had no one really to talk to about his experiences, and that’s life changing. You go for two weeks to Africa and your life is changed- and he’d been there for five years- so I think he was probably deep in culture shock too and had no one to really share what his life was for five years. My dad hired him on the spot, because he always describes the junior college as a babysitting institution that he turned into an educational institution. I mean, he really wanted those girls to be exposed to someone who had that experience, because it had been pretty sheltered for them. They had been from central and south America, and from the south, and during that time, there wasn’t much exposure to other cultures at all. We used to go over to his place and he’d show us slides, and I’d sit on the camel saddle, and we’d have all these things, and it was a cool introduction…it never left.”

 

 

E: "I would really like to go [to Africa] at some point in time."

J: “Yes, I always tell people that when they express that- when the come into the store- they express that they want to go to Africa, I always encourage them to touch base here before. We have soooo many wonderful friends, and I’ve seen this happen again and again, where somebody says, in the presence of maybe [for example] Mousa from the Gambia, “I’m going to the Gambia, and I’m going to Senegal, on such-and-such a day,” and Mousa would just turn around and look at that person and smile, and engage that person- almost sometimes on a non-verbal level basis, “when are you going? Ok, what’s your phone number? I’ll give you my phone number. You call me. I’m going to call my wife. She can come pick you at the airport, you’re a guest at our home.” Zip zap, just like that! You know, and that’s what really makes a difference in understanding where one’s going anywhere in this world. And it’s just a really sweet way to in turn, be embraced again. And the embrace is not always comforting or kind, but it’s real. Yeah, it’s real. And that’s what we want. ”

 

E:"Wow…Really going to help build somebody’s character just through experiences"

J: “Absolutely! You go home, and you come back to the States, and you’re able- and I really encourage people- don’t just sit on that and go back to your job. Talk! Talk. You know, tell folks, cause a lot of people have such glaring misconceptions about that continent, you know, and it’s troubling.”

 

E:"So if you could set some of the more glaring misconceptions straight, what would you want to let people know? "

J: “One of the things is that you hear everybody’s starving, that there’s war everywhere. And wherever people are starving, wherever there’s war, it’s dreadfully devastating to be sure- but that’s not all of Africa. No. That everybody lives in the jungle, everybody lives in trees…No! I mean, you’ve got Lagos…how many millions of people live in Lagos, Nigeria, you know? Nigeria is the most populated country in that continent. And that’s another thing- Africa’s not a country- it’s a continent! He-ello! And I’ve talked to college students that still call Africa a country! It’s like, please, these are young people! They’ve got access to more up to date information, and I don’t know whether it’s just flying from one ear through the other and it doesn’t stop anywhere, or they just stick to the old concept that they conceived as a child, but they’re just not getting it in school, I don’t know, but…. [taking a breath]”

 

E: "Over the years that you’ve been in the culture, helping introduce new people to being embraced by the culture, have you noticed the general public’s change in their thoughts, or it’s been the same?"

J: “I think people come here out of curiosity and familiarity. So, I’ve seen a lot out of the familiarity point of view. I’ve seen a lot of people with experiences of the Peace Corps, so they come knowing. And they want to be doing something also- so there’s a lot of coalitions that form here also. That un-does a lot of damage that’s been done. And people who are curious…if they’re attracted to one thing or anything, I really make it my purpose to tell them everything I know about that piece: where it is in Africa, what is the tribe, what other things are they interested in? do we have a book here- and I’ll open up the book, which we keep as a library- we don’t sell them at all- and this is their every day life that’s been captured by somebody in a picture. And they leave more informed. Even if it’s just to know about the cowry shell- that little shell that appears everywhere. People just have to know. And what I know, everyone can have access too. And certainly have the opportunity to have the knowledge. Because everyone that brings something in here [to sell], I have to write it down. [and educate me she did when I wandered in asking about Berber and Mororrcan cultures! Thank you!!] ”

 

E: "Well, you guys have been around for 20 years, what do you see? Now you’re a fixture of the community. What do you see for the next 20 years?"

J: “We see it going, keeping on going, and this is just a business choice, but it’s an evolution for us, is to have just a profile on Ebay, so we’re starting off on that. Hopefully, it will be a vehicle to not only increase our sales, but also just another form of appreciation, because I’m not just going to sell things as a piece, they’re gonna know something about it.”

 

E: "Now you’re going to be able to reach worldwide, not just San Francisco. Thank you- and I know the readers of AfroStyle Magazine will thank you as well!"

 

 

Please check out the African Outlet if you’re in the neighborhood, or visit them online at www.theafricanoutlet.com.

 

The African Outlet
524 Octavia Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-864-EKPO (3576)
www.theafricanoutlet.com

 

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