Farmers Branch business owner says she’s packing up after months of harassment

Two black women-owned small businesses in Farmers Branch say they’ve been harassed for months by the same man, and it’s prompted one of them to close up shop entirely and seek safety elsewhere.

At BLACKLIT book shop off of McEwen Road, you typically find books by black authors, and books highlighting black characters, an effort to showcase black representation in literature.

But on Saturday, the art from local creators had been stripped off the walls, and the shelves were nearly empty.

“Today, I decided to tell the public what we have been dealing with for the past 10 months,” said owner Nia-Tayler Clark.

She posted on her shop’s Instagram page that they were closing up shop after months of harassment by one man.

“He has trapped me behind my register, chased me through my store, and I shouldn’t have to call police to walk in and out the front door of the bookstore,” Clark said.

Clark recalled things he said. “’I’m going to be here every day until you no longer have a man,’ or, like, ‘You don’t know what you’re missing out on,’” she said.

She said it had gotten to a point where her staff and customers also felt unsafe, reading a text message that one of her volunteers had sent after the man walked in during a female bible study.

“He started going on and on about how he just got out of jail. He has been arrested 30 times this year, but he always gets out,” the volunteer texted Clark.

She said he inched his chair closer to the group of women as he spoke, and finally got in his car once they started texting and he thought they were going. They said he stayed parked outside for some time.

“He left once we turned off all the lights in the store and crouched together and by the time my boyfriend came he was gone and we all made it to the parking lot safely,” Clark said, reading her volunteer’s text.

Clark said she also saw the impact all this was having on her son.

“I started watching him jump. When I started — he started carrying a baseball bat. Like, ‘Ma, is that him? Is that him?’ That’s not a way for a kid,” she said.

“It kind of hurts my heart… She’s a black owner, she’s been there before I’ve even been here. So, it’s kind of sad to see her go,” said Destiny Jeffries, manager of In Living Colour Studio around the corner.

Jeffries said the same man has been to their business several times.

“Comes in, turns our music down, yells, I guess trying to seek attention. Usually has a bottle in his hand. Break dances in the middle of the floor. Just very disruptive,” Jeffries said.

She said their staff is all female, and now use a buddy system when they leave the store.

“We encourage the girls, if you’re here alone, lock the doors,” Jeffries said.

She said various store employees have called the police.

Clark said she has also called police several times, and a judge even granted her a temporary restraining order against the man.

Although he’s never gotten physical, Clark said she didn’t want to wait until it got to that point for her, her employees, or her community.

“The business owners here shouldn’t have to send pictures of him outside our place back and forth or ‘Hey, lock your door! Hey, he’s outside!’ Like, that should not be the case,” Clark said.

Farmers Branch Police confirmed a trespassing case was opened for BlackLIT but could not provide any other details on Saturday.

It’s emotional for Clark to have to shut down her business after two years and tons of community support– canceling events through the end of the year.

“To see how, like the community came together to raise over $40,000 so this place could even exist, to see how one man has impacted it. It’s a lot,” she said.

But Clark is determined this will only be a bump in the road, and that this will not result in the end of her mission

“I don’t believe this is the end for BLACKLIT,” she said. “There’s a lot of people who are invested and involved in BLACKLIT, so I just wanted to let the community know: Not goodbye but see you later.”