Fifty people crowded into the Marion S. Barry Room at Busboys and Poets in Anacostia on Sept. 30 to listen to a panel discussing the new book that tells the story behind the very place they were gathered: Andy Shallal’s “A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets.”
With eight locations throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia, the event honored the Busboys and Poets journey, while using the gathering at the Anacostia location to highlight one of Ward 8’s longtime activists: Philip Pannell, who moderated the panel and turned 75 that same day.
Shallal said the creation of Busboys and Poets came about with his desire to mix politics, food and art together.
“I said to myself about 22 years ago, what would you have if you had all three of those things in one place,” he said, during the panel discussion, featuring journalists Kojo Nnamdi, Sam Ford along with Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The Washington Informer. “That’s when I formulated the idea of Busboys and Poets.”
Attendees such as D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb and Ward 8C Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chair Salim Adofo listened to Shallal talk about how his life journey and commitment to progressive causes influenced the book, which has a foreword written by civil and human rights scholar and leader Angela Davis.
Davis said the book’s release could not be more timely, as progressive ideas are under attack and civil rights efforts are being reversed and eliminated on the federal and local levels.
“‘A Seat at The Table’ reveals the depth of this commitment and allows us to understand how Andy’s continued support of artists, poets and writers, and his and Busboys facilitation of community-based movement building, exemplifies what we can all do to continue to safeguard radical democratic possibilities for our worlds,” said Davis. “In this particular moment, that commitment will be more important than ever.”
Shallal Tells It Like It Is in ‘A Seat at the Table’
To start off the discussion, Pannell asked the journalists for one word to describe the book. In response, Nnamdi said “belonging”, Ford said “struggle” and Barnes said “legacy.”
Shallal then launched into his journey as an Iraqi American and young man in the 1960s.
“My father worked with the Arab League,” he said, referring to a group of Arab countries in the middle of the 20th century. “He was appointed by the league as their representative in the U.S.”
Shallal said that while in high school, his classmates, most of them white, could not figure out what racial group he belonged to. He noted that when he arrived in the U.S. for the first time, an uncle said he looked “like a Negro” and “he badgered me about it.”
He also offered stories of his struggle fitting in soliciting both and empathy and laughter from the panelists and crowd. The Busboys and Poets owner said when he attended Stratford Junior High School in Arlington, Virginia, he was referred to as “high yellow,” and added that while in school, he tried to get people to call him by his real name, Anas, but one schoolmate who befriended him kept referring to him as “Anus.”
The entrepreneur, artist and activist also talked about the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968, and how that changed his overall outlook.
“I saw race in a different view,” he said, “and what America is all about.”
Race seemed to continue to play a factor as he tried to open his now successful restaurant chain. The restaurateur told the crowd many banks initially did not like the idea of Busboys and Poets and rejected him. However, the Black-owned Industrial Bank did not.
Twenty years after Busboys and Poets was founded on 14th Street NW in September 2005, Shallal is often seen at his multiple locations throughout the DMV and advocating for various justice causes.
While he acknowledges he is a hard worker, his passion behind the work keeps him going.
“I hate the word ‘workaholic,’” Shallal said. “In order to be successful, you have to love what you do.”
Pannell Gets His Flowers
As the moderator, Pannell closed the conversation urging the audience to thank the panelists and buy Shallal’s book. However, Shallal used the moment to show appreciation for Pannell’s years of dedicated service to justice and equity in the District, nation and beyond.
“Phil, you have been a drum major in my life,” Shallal said.
He also revealed that Pannell accepted an academic stint at the Harvard Executive Program, celebrating all that he can contribute in this new role.
“It’s not what Harvard can do for you,” Shallal said, “but what you can do for Harvard.”
As the entrepreneur and crowd celebrated the moderator’s 75th birthday, Pannell uplifted the work of Shallal and Busboys and Poets.
“It has been 20 years since you opened Busboys and Poets,” Pannell said. “If there were more businessmen and businesswomen like Andy Shallal, a lot of problems in this city would evaporate.”
