For more than five decades, **Pepukayi** has devoted his life to preserving and sharing Black literature in the United Kingdom. Now, at the age of 76, he is appealing for public support to protect what is believed to be one of Britain’s largest collections of Black books after years of financial hardship and challenges placed the archive at risk.
Pepukayi began his mission in **1972**, during a period when books by Black authors were extremely difficult to obtain in Britain. Recognizing the lack of access to Black literature, he became one of the country’s earliest distributors of books written by Black authors, supplying schools, libraries, community organizations, and individual readers who had few other ways to access these important works.
Over the course of more than 50 years, his dedication resulted in the creation of a remarkable collection containing **more than one million Black books**. The archive is housed at the **Maa Maat Centre** on Tottenham High Road in London and includes countless rare, out-of-print, and historically significant titles that are now difficult or impossible to replace. The collection represents decades of literary, historical, cultural, and educational contributions from Black writers across the world.
Despite building one of the country’s most significant collections of Black literature, Pepukayi says the archive is now under serious threat. Years of financial difficulties, repeated break-ins, and the deteriorating condition of the building have made it increasingly difficult to protect and maintain the collection. As a result, many of the books remain inaccessible to the public, unable to be properly catalogued, displayed, or used by the community they were intended to serve.
The appeal comes as Pepukayi also faces personal health challenges. Now 76 years old, he has undergone two major operations but remains determined to preserve the collection he has spent a lifetime assembling. He says his goal has always been to ensure that future generations can discover, study, and celebrate Black history, culture, and literature through the books he has carefully preserved.
To prevent the collection from being lost or further damaged, a fundraising campaign has been launched with an immediate goal of raising **£25,000**. The funds will be used to secure the building that houses the archive, providing a safer environment for the books while laying the foundation for restoring public access to the collection.
Organizers emphasize that protecting the archive means safeguarding an irreplaceable cultural resource that has served communities for generations. They hope public support will not only help preserve the books themselves but also ensure they can once again become available to students, researchers, educators, and readers seeking access to Black literature and history. Through the campaign, Pepukayi is asking supporters to help preserve a lifetime’s work and protect a collection that reflects more than half a century of dedication to education, culture, and community.
