At its roots, MahoganyBooks was founded in 2007 to meet the literary needs of readers nationwide in search of books written for, by, or about people of the African Diaspora.  For the first ten years, they were solely online and engaged authors, book clubs, conferences, and publishers to ensure Black Books were accessible to anyone eager to read about Black culture.  In 2017,  they opened the doors to their very first physical location in Washington, DC.  Founded by an enterprising husband and wife duo, the award-winning MahoganyBooks is the result of Derrick and Ramunda's love for culture, community, and connection and their desire to see books empower others as it had empowered them. With over 20 years of combined retail book industry experience, the Young's witnessed a variety of market highs and lows which armed them with the insight needed to develop a bookstore model capitalizing on technology while staying true to independent community bookstore roots that define the core values of the owners.

Since its inception, MahoganyBooks has committed to connecting readers to writers and grown from being exclusively online to hosting more than 600 book events throughout the DC/Maryland/Virginia metro area and online via their popular MahoganyBooks Front Row series.  They have become the go-to bookseller to feature A-List luminaries, new voices and local authors.  MahoganyBooks proudly boasts one of the deepest inventory of black books online.  In 2019, the company was named one of the Top 100 Minority Business Enterprises in the DC Capital Region.  Their commitment to community is amplified by their donation of over 1000 books to youth, numerous story times, financial workshops, author talks, seminars and a host of other events created to enrich the lives of residents and beyond.   MahoganyBooks has been featured nationally on the Steve Harvey Television Show, Black Enterprise, Vanity Fair Magazine, Essence Magazine Forbes, Oprah Magazine, TIME Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NBC, ABC and other outlets featuring their commitment to Black books.

However Derrick & Ramunda are most excited about the impact their family business has had not only, on local children through their give-back program, Books for the Block, but also the zeal for reading and entrepreneurship their daughter Mahogany has developed through her exposure to the family enterprise.