Jeffrey Blair (and his wife Pamela) are the owners and founders of EyeSeeMe African American Children's Bookstore. While raising children of their own, they sought to change a key problem with their education: the absence of books that reflected their own history and cultural heritage.
Jeffrey and Pamela began curating books that featured African American children as main characters, so they could SEE themselves in the stories, protagonists, and overall narratives. Not surprisingly, their children became incredibly high achievers, attending Harvard, Columbia, and Bard colleges.
Seeing the success that these books brought to their own family, Jeffery and Pamela started EyeSeeMe African American Children's Bookstore to bring it to the larger community. Their store in University City features thousands of titles by black authors, featuring black children, and accentuating African American history and culture.
On this episode, Jeffrey discusses his family's journey of discovery, philosophy towards education, role of books in cultural life, and the founding of the business.
Please visit the EyeSeeMe bookstore located at 6951 Olive Blvd in University City, and browse their WEBSITE to look at their many books and titles.
Thank you to Jeffrey and Pamela for sharing their WONDERFUL bookstore, and philosophy, with the St. Louis community and beyond. We appreciate and support you!