Abraham

Abraham

RIP Abraham (Ibrihim Isykil)

There is a lady who trades further up Ridley Road who came to me the other day and said “I like the 80’s soul music you play here and people dancing. It makes me happy and I sit and listen to it from the window over there.” It’s something special if you can get people to stop and dance and socialise – it’s people at their best.

The role I play in the community here in Hackney is that I like to see people are happy. Sometimes people come here crying and say they have no food in the house. I often just give them food for free. The way I look at it is the more you give the more you receive. When it is Christmas or a festival then I offer people free drinks and food to share here with me and they are happy. A few people will try and take the piss out of my generosity but I tend to not welcome these people back. When I wake up in the morning and come to this shop, I say thank you to God for giving me power. If I don’t come to this market for one day, I feel tired and I still think about Ridley Road. Except for Sundays as that is the day, I take my work head off and pray.

I came to this country from Lagos in Nigeria when I was 18 and a student. I met my wife who decided to leave her job in the bank to sell clothes. I was a cleaner when I met her and eventually, we found this shop in Dalston – the one we are in right now. At 23 we were married after five years together and decided to set up a business. So, we have been in this shop here for many years, firstly selling cosmetics and then food. Some of the customers we had then still come back to see us now. When we realised the cosmetics were not selling much, we decided to sell African food as well. People loved the food. We sold both African and Caribbean. My wife and I have 5 children now and they all have different careers, but one works with me and he will be the one who will take care of it until I retire.

The only thing I feel that would make people happier here would be to stop the racism. It’s been around for donkey’s years. There are some places outside of London where black people can’t walk around freely. This county is a very small island, but it holds many different races and that’s why United Kingdom is the right name. People can get help and benefits here if they need them and there are many countries that do not do that. In lockdown, charities and the NHS came forward and helped people – they cared for people. That’s my philosophy I suppose – respect and care for people and they will respect and care for you.