The New Black History: Marcus Anderson

The New Black History: Marcus Anderson

We spoke with media producer, entrepreneur, record collector, and all-around interesting guy Marcus Anderson about his new cafe and pastry shop, Thumbody, and his place in The New Black History.

Matt DeSciora

When Marcus Anderson speaks, you listen. It’s not that he commands your attention with a booming voice or he has one of those “look at me!” personalities. It’s that whenever you’re involved in a conversation with Marcus, it’s hard not to give him your undivided attention. Just as I did the time when he told me about his friendship with the late A$AP Yams over Henny on the rocks on someone’s deck after a block party. In other words, he has one of those “most interesting man in the world'' vibes.

Marcus’s tales about his famous athlete and rapper friends draw you in, but more than that, you always learn something about yourself, about life, about anything, when you chop it up with him. If you know Marcus, you know he’s good for life advice, his feelings on his beloved Raiders, and a recommendation on what coffee flavor goes well with an ube pandesal. He’s dishing out game on all three at Thumbody, the coffee and pastry shop he co-owns with his wife, Audrey, and brother-in-law, Teofilo, in Paramus, New Jersey.

Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Marcus and his family recently opened Thumbody not too far from where he grew up as a way to connect with and give back to his community. One of the ways he’s linking with people is through vinyl records. Most of the vintage records he sourced during his travels that appear on a large wall in front of the counter in Thumbody are available for sale or trade. You can stop in for a cup of specialty coffee, tea, latte, or a bean pie as easily as you can learn where Marcus found an original press MF Doom “Mm..Food” record. It’s all the same to him, really.

On the philanthropic front, before opening in January, Marcus and his family hosted a canned food drive at Thumbody that donated non-perishable goods to Eva’s Village, a non-profit organization located in Paterson.

These types of humanitarian efforts and entrepreneurial spirit are the essence of what we’re talking about when we talk about New Black History. A true friend to many of us here at Stadium Goods, Marcus was the perfect candidate to kick off the third year of our New Black History campaign that highlights the creatives, artists, athletes, and entrepreneurs creating New Black History through their work and contributions to culture.

To paraphrase Mike Jones, “Who is Marcus Anderson?”

The answer to this question has become a bit more clear to me recently!

Peace! I’m a son, brother, husband, uncle, and friend. I’ve worked within the music and sports media space over the last ten-plus years, and recently opened a café and record shop, Thumbody!

You’ve worked behind the scenes at various media outlets—and a few streetwear brands, too, shout out your guy Mr. Staple—in your career. Now you’re front and center with Thumbody, the new coffee/pastry/record shop you co-own and operate in Paramus, New Jersey. What has the transition been like from your most recent gig in video production at Bleacher Report to slingin’ scones?

The transition has been an absolute blessing, man. In many ways, there are a lot of similarities between being a Producer/Production Manager and running your own space like Thumbody. I still have early call times, I still have pre-production meetings and calls with my team and co-owners. And the job is still almost never done once you've closed/the set is wrapped. The major difference between Bleacher Report and Thumbody is that we own the latter, and just that keeps me coming back for more; remaining tremendously thankful.

How did this all come together? Thumbody is owned and operated by you, your wife, Audrey, and your brother-in-law, Teofilo, right?

That’s correct. Thumbody is Black and Filipino owned by myself, my wife, Audrey, and brother, Teo. Without tragedy and circumstance, I honestly don’t think we would’ve opened Thumbody. We used to talk about what owning a café and record shop would look like if we had the courage to try and put something together, and it finally became a reality after two occurrences helped facilitate things a bit: my mother passing away in December of 2019, and the pandemic.

The pandemic obviously forced us and a lot of people to work from home. And I don’t need to tell you that working and living in the same space gets old quickly. So with some more downtime on my hands, I connected with a known pastry chef in Jersey, and either before or after work, I did all I could to learn about the hospitality business through him. One thing led to another, and I found myself picking up more and more responsibilities (at his business). One of which was playing a role in the opening of one of his three locations in New Jersey…while maintaining that full-time job. And after that, after a ton of conversations and tough decisions, we eventually decided to open Thumbody in December 2021.

You told me when the idea to do a coffee shop was in its infancy that you were pretty sure you were entering uncharted waters. I remember you said something along the lines of “There’s no one who looks like me, with no formal training in baking, starting conversations about various cultures through coffee.” How are you creating new Black History with Thumbody?

Whew! Allow me to unpack a lot here!

My journey has always been about entering uncharted waters, and then adjusting. I grew up around so many different cultures, which brought challenges, but also provided unique points of view.

Also, having grown up in what I’ll call the “Myspace/blog era,” I was able to connect with different people from all walks of life on the internet. That in turn created unique opportunities that I don’t think I ever thought were possible.

Thumbody, at its core, is really a testament to that, and a by-product of the formula that seems to have worked well for me in my life and in my career. Basically, completely jumping clean off the deep end, and swimming my way through. Culinary school was too expensive. The COVID-19 Pandemic kept us home. My mom’s passing was emotionally crippling. Honestly, I really just had to figure the shit out for myself and my family.

It isn’t easy for anyone, and speaking for myself as someone in their 30s, to make it in the culinary space without “traditional” experience. It isn't easy for someone who’s Black to step into a space not occupied by many people who look like me and make a name for himself. Shade has been thrown. Folks have tried to get over me in business situations. It’s sad to say, but racism still exists. With Thumbody, we created a welcoming space that offers an experience that’s authentic to who we are, with items that we are passionate about. Whether it be our ube flavored latte, our Almighty Bean Pie, or our homemade cayenne hot chocolate mix using caramel made with fresh milk from nubian goats sourced from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range! (Laughs) We care. You can find me in the shop every single day, working on every single detail that goes into the soul of Thumbody until things make the most sense for us.

New Black History is made the moment I, as well the other folks of color before me who’ve inspired me to figure this out, unlock the door, turn on the lights, and open our business for the day. We’re not necessarily reinventing the wheel with a new café-slash-record shop concept, but we are telling our truth, and hopefully providing some sort of inspiration for someone to get up and do what they’re passionate about, as well.

Walking into Thumbody, it’s apparent that inspiration from Black culture went into the design and feel of the space. There’s a wall with vintage hip-hop, soul, and R&B vinyl that you’ve sourced from your travels. Next to it, a collage with an image of Ghostface Killah and other rap luminaries appears above a countertop eating area. How else are you putting people on to Black culture?

Teo put together the collage wall. It encapsulates our varying interests, whether it be food, fashion, art, our roots that shaped us. His camera roll and desktop folder is ridiculous. (Laughs) I’m amazed at the images he was able to put together for the wall. Ghost is one thing, but wait until you find Hector Lavoe’s ring!

Black culture is happening every day, man. Like I said, the wall is one thing, the rare Al-Fatihah record is another, but it’s really the fight for me. How can I introduce the recipes of desserts that aren’t traditionally celebrated in American culture to a new, wider audience? We want to educate our guests on the ingredients we use in the food we serve. We want you to know why everything available at Thumbody can stand next to whatever you can find at a more “traditional” café.

In what other ways does Thumbody draw from the diverse backgrounds of its owners?

Thumbody wouldn’t be what it is without our diverse backgrounds. So we draw from Audrey and Teo’s Filipino heritage with our selection of rare Filipino disco/funk records. We show love to our families with photos on the wall across from our selection of mango, lychee, and calamansi flavored soft drinks—all of which are Filipino-inspired. Those drinks share a space with our ube tres leches, which sits to the left of our selection of cornbread cobblers, which is to the right of our bean pie. Every single square inch of Thumbody gives some context as to who we are, and where we come from.

Our partners have played a huge role in helping make our vision come to life, as well. Project Pandesal is a local non-profit organization that helps us ideate some of our Filipino based pastries, while Sahra Nguyen and her team at Nguyen Coffee Supply, who has been leading the charge in changing the narrative of Vietnamese coffee culture, worked with us to become the first (and only!) cafe in Jersey to carry the brand’s products!

Alright, now I’m getting seriously hungry. Thanks, Marcus. I guess now would be a perfect time to wrap up with one final question: What do you want to achieve with Thumbody?

Ultimately, the goal is to create a safe, inclusive space where people can feel comfortable about coming in and learning about something they didn’t know about themselves or life before walking through the door. We want to share that traditional African American dessert that you may not necessarily find at say, a Starbucks or something, with someone who has never had the experience of spending time in a Black mother’s kitchen. If we’re able to change one's perception of a totally different culture through food, drink, music, and conversation, we’re headed in the right direction.

THUMBODY is located at 80 E Route 4, Paramus, New Jersey

You can follow Marcus (@marcus_anderson) and Thumbody (@_thumbody) on Instagram.

All photos by Clifford Ince (@cince.visuals)