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Home · Culture

14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now

Black-owned book shops not only promote independent authors, they often double as meeting spaces, art galleries, and affordable vendor marketplaces for the community.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
By Keyaira Boone · Updated April 20, 2021

Black-owned bookstores provide pathways to imagining new worlds — or just our escaping our own — prioritizing Black stories and storytellers consistently in a country that once considered it illegal for Black people to have the right to read. 

Literacy is one of the most important paths to power. Black-owned book shops not only promote independent authors and distribute publications that are not widely available, they often double as meeting spaces, art galleries, and affordable vendor marketplaces for the neighborhood in which they are located.

Like many retail-based businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic and rising commercial rents threaten their ability to continue providing vital services which makes supporting these stores even more crucial at this time. See 15 Black-owned bookstores you can visit in your city or shop online below.

01
Fulton Street Books
Onikah Asamoa-Caesar opened this book store in Tulsa, Oklahoma to aid in building representation, literacy, and community.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
02
Café Con Libros
This Brooklyn bookstore and cafe is a haven for the intellectual intersectional Feminist.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
03
Uncle Bobbie’s Books and Coffee
Activist, commentator and scholar, Marc Lamont Hill brought this gem to the Germantown area.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
04
Kareemah’s Urban Bookstore
This bookstore sits in the heart of South Philly.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
05
Modern Tribe Books
Founder Maeva Jackson opened this store to provide access to titles that promote self-empowerment and holistic health.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
06
The Little Boho Bookshop
Sandra Dear opened this sweet little bookshop to share her love of reading with her community in Bayonne, New Jersey.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
07
Mahogany Books
Ramunda Young, Mahogany Young, and Derrick Young opened this family-owned bookstore in 2007 to make it easier for readers to locate work written by and focused on Black people across the diaspora. It is located in Washington, DC.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
08
44th & 3rd
Warren, Cheryl, and Allyce Lee wanted to provide access to the “richness, diversity and genius of Black expression,” with their bookstore in Atlanta, Georgia. They settled on opening the store after Cheryl proposed their business plan as her thesis.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
09
Enda’s Booktique
Proprietor E. Jean offers programming, tutoring, and special events at this shop in Duncanville, Texas.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
10
The Listening Tree
After failing to find adequate representation for their children Omar and Kimberly created a bookstore filled with the selections they wanted to see.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
11
Source Booksellers
Former teacher Janet Webster Jones is furthering the family legacy (her mom was a librarian) by running this Michigan shop.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
Shop Here
12
Semicolon
This Chicago treasure pulls double duty as an art gallery.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
13
Turning Page Bookshop
This shop, owned by VaLinda Miller, is the only Black-owned option in the state of South Carolina.
14 Black-Owned Book Stores To Support Right Now
TOPICS:  black books black childrens book Black-owned bookstores
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