Tucked into a busy corner in southeast Portland are two small, white houses that hold the apothecary and bookstore that make up Third Eye Books, Accessories and Gifts.

Third Eye came into fruition in 2019 when Charles Hannah’s business partner and wife, Michelle “Seshat” Lewis, presented the idea to him in hopes of “liberating themselves” from their current 9-to-5 work life. 

“We were at our kitchen table trying to figure out how to get off these jobs,” Hannah said. “At the time, the store was a mixture of T-shirts, jewelry, body products my wife made, and a small crate of books I had put out.”

They began meeting people and selling products by tabling at local events and markets in Portland. 

The bookstore remained limited to that crate of books until customers began asking about the storefront location that didn’t yet exist. 

Hannah and Lewis’ need to provide a better answer to that question drove them to find a physical location to house their books and products. 

The storefront began as a shared space on Southeast 160th Avenue and Division Street. 

“We shared community with other community providers,” Hannah said. 

Curating a collection

From the beginning, Hannah and Lewis’ goal was to sell and promote books by Black authors. 

“We were already well read in Toni Morrison, Malcolm X, James Baldwin — those are already authors on our checklist,” Hannah said. “Then we asked the question, does white America know about these guys?”

Hannah explained that these authors shaped his brain and experiences throughout his life.

“We were surprised that people had heard of these folks but never read them,” Hannah said. “This gave us the idea to center our bookstore around prominent writers and go from there.”

In 2020, Portland residents were looking for answers as Black Lives Matter protests took over the streets. They turned to Third Eye Books, hoping to find them.

That same year, Lewis had the idea to start a business selling body care products. 

“The bookstore and the apothecary balance each other out,” Hannah said. “You gotta have health and gotta have healing.”

In 2021, they moved to their current location on Southeast 33rd Avenue and Division Street, where the apothecary lives in one building, and the bookstore is next door. 

‘People are wanting information and looking for solutions’

Third Eye Books is one of Portland’s only Black-owned bookstores — a lack Hannah laments.

“The bookstores that are here do a good job, but they’re not going to go deep into the Black experience or the history books we need to be reading,” he said.

Hannah and Lewis found solace in a nationwide community of Black booksellers who had already successfully established their own Black-owned bookstores. Hannah developed the store’s inventory through his involvement with his communities. 

“There was no ‘how-to open a bookstore for Black people,’” Hannah said. “We had to ask questions and call people. We partnered with other bookstores and started calling people, connecting with people and meeting people.”

Other Black-owned bookstores provided advice when Third Eye first got started, and now Hannah and Lewis share that same kindness with the new sellers who reach out. 

“People are wanting information and looking for solutions,” Hannah said. “That’s the love we give: networking about books.”

Hannah said he strives to curate a balance between what people want to read and what they need to read. 

Through customer preferences, their own personal interests and the reference pages in the books they read, Hannah and Lewis strive to keep their collections relevant and engaging, Hannah said. 

Third Eye’s Portland community has become integral to the business’s success. 

“Community is so important. There’s a U and an I in there. It’s the U and I we really have to grow and appreciate,” Hannah said. “I’m from the community. I’m part of the community. I live and play in the community; I’m all those things.”

Hannah emphasized that to find community, one needs to be an active participant.

“Opening this business gave me a platform to affect the community by having books available that people want, and then I can say having books available that people need.”

Community building

Third Eye hosts book and author events to step deeper into the community. Hannah and Lewis connect with authors to put books directly into the peoples’ hands. 

Last year, Third Eye Books, Accessories, and Gifts gave out thousands of copies of “The 1619 Project” by lead author and creator Nikole Hannah-Jones. 

“We were so moved, and others in the community were so moved, so we wrote a grant and got 4,000 copies of ‘The 1619 Project’ to give away free,” Hannah said. “We spent a whole summer giving away free books. That built community.”

Hannah said they chose this book because they knew people needed to read it.  

The book is a collection of essays and poems marking the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. Written by Nikole Hannah-Jones and numerous historians, writers and poets, the book reframes U.S. history by placing Black Americans and the stories and impact of slavery as central to the nation’s narrative. 

Hannah and Lewis hoped to make it easy for people across the country to read a book that reframes history.  

“‘1619’ is hot in the news and one of the most banned books in America,” Hannah said. “It’s a subject matter that’s important to us, and it gives people a good understanding of the current book bans in America, and helps people reframe conversations about worldly events.”

The bookstore’s first project of this kind was for the book “White Women and Everything You Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better,” by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao. 

“Three years ago, on March 8, for International Women’s Day, we gave away 51,000 books in one day,” Hannah said. “We built that book up with community.”

They hosted online discussions and an author talk at the Clinton Street Theater. They took a book they wanted everyone to read and turned it into a local community event. 

The book giveaway was not exclusive to Portland residents. These free book projects reach the whole country, creating a widespread Third Eye community. 

“People are looking for knowledge and want resources,” Hannah said. “Think of Portland as a desert, and Third Eye Books as an oasis. You come up to this oasis, and you see that it’s not a mirage — it’s a real place.”

‘Win, win, win’

Hannah and Lewis have worked to create a balance between generating an income and developing relationships beyond monetary gain. 

An example Hannah shared is when they partner with local schools. 

When Third Eye has been asked to bring pop-up bookstores to schools, Hannah likes to find ways that everyone can benefit from the events. 

“We do what we call a win, win, win solution,” Hannah said. “The school buys books, I bring the books to the school, and the kids show up and get a free book.”

Instead of selling books for direct profit, Hannah asks schools to buy books from him so that every student can receive a free book. This investment by the school directly becomes an investment in the families. 

“I don’t have to tap a parent for books,” Hannah said. “We’re very mindful of who has money because we don’t want to take resources from people.”

This is how Hannah and Lewis find a place in their community beyond selling books. Selling books is important to them, but so is spreading knowledge. 

“If you’re coming to a community event, we’re not there to sell books,” he said. “There’s a time and space for everything.”

Resistance through community building

Through the books they sell, Hannah and Lewis aren’t just resisting current systems that directly suppress those authors. They’re also showing their community how to do the same. 

“Reading is an act of resistance,” Hannah said. “Ideas are formulated in books because they don’t skip anything, and they tell you how it is. That’s knowledge that people don’t want you to read. It’s dangerous. Books give you words and help you develop who you are. New ideas and new stories keep me reading.”

Books create conversation, Hannah said. They inspire ideas, friendships and movements. 

“We are social creatures,” Hannah said. “Books and conversation can lead to wonderful things. ”

This article appears in March 25, 2026.