Street bookseller and activist passes at 54

Yawu Miller

A crowd of more than 200 mourners gathered at Mattapan’s Morning Star Baptist Church last Friday morning to pay their respects to Lloyd E. Hart Jr., an entrepreneur and activist who created community around his love of books.

Poets, writers, professors, street-corner philosophers and other customers who patronized Hart’s pushcarts in Dudley Square and Downtown Crossing gave eulogies, sharing their memories of a man whose own transformation from a life of crime and addiction inspired others to turn their lives around.

“This man is like a living history of our people,” said poet and author Askia Touré. “He was a griot. A soldier for our people.”

Hart died in his sleep of heart failure on March 20, after a day spent working at his pushcart. He was 54.

The pushcart was the anchor for his business, The Black Library Booksellers, which he operated on Washington Street near the corner of Summer Street.

His business was also somewhat of an anchor for the community. It was a meeting place where, on all but the coldest days of the year, Hart and the people he employed sold books, ranging from so-called ghetto literature to black classics, and discussed them with black folks from all walks of life.

“Curator, keeper of the archives, a man on the block, a scholar,” sang poet Walter Lucas in a prosaic eulogy.

“He created community,” said Vaughn Jeffries, a customer services representative who often stopped by Hart’s pushcart on his commute home. “People knew he either had [the book they wanted] or could get it. He kept everybody well-read, either with the pop stuff or the historical stuff.”

Invisible to many of Hart’s downtown clients was his Internet business, anchored by a Web site he designed and developed. In addition to selling books online, Hart sponsored book fairs, booked tours for black authors and sold black-themed prints and posters.

Many at Hart’s memorial service spoke of his generosity of spirit. Hart mentored people transitioning out of incarceration and back into the community through organizations like Span Inc. and The Brook House.

He also offered jobs to many formerly incarcerated men and women. His pushcart, which is still being run by business partner Kevin L. Fisher, has helped many a man and woman earn enough money to get back on their feet, important aid for those with criminal records at a time when employment opportunities have become scarce.

On his way to Hart’s service, Touré’s cab driver asked for whom the funeral was being held. When the driver heard Hart’s name, there was instant recognition.

“He said, ‘Brother Lloyd was a good brother,’” Touré recalled. “‘He helped me when I got out of the joint. Give my love to his family.’”

Born in Boston in 1953, Hart grew up in the Orchard Park and Academy Homes housing developments. After graduating from Boston Trade School, Hart fell into a life of crime, stealing and re-selling books to support his drug addiction.

Tony Van Der Meer, a professor at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, recalled buying a book from Hart at Wally’s Café one evening when Hart didn’t have change for the transaction. A few days later in Dudley Square, as Hart stirred from a nod, he looked up the sum he owed Van Der Meer in his pocket register and repaid him the $2.

Van Der Meer was impressed with Hart’s integrity. After Hart kicked his habit and began selling legally purchased books out of a pushcart in Dudley Square, their friendship grew, as did their business relationship. Van Der Meer has relied on Hart’s business to supply his students with texts for his Africana Studies classes for the past 11 years.

In addition to his books, Hart’s occasional appearances in Van Der Meer’s classroom provided his students with a source of inspiration.

“When you look at our community, you see it in crisis,” Van Der Meer said. “You see a lot of pain. When you see somebody like Lloyd, it gives you hope.”

Hart leaves his longtime companion, Brenda Bellizeare of Newton; daughter Stephanie L. Brown of Boston; and three sons, Lloyd Mumford of California, Stephen Hart of Cincinnati and Jason Eric Brown of Boston.