To observe this year’s Black History Month, we are highlighting ten Black-owned bookstores across the country where you can purchase a book to extend your learning about Black history, heritage, or cultures.
Note sure what book to buy? Check out our Inspiring Reads for Black History Month, Books to Read for Black History Month, or Books by Black Authors to Preorder Now for recommendations.
Grassrootz Bookstore: Phoenix, AZ
This bookstore list wouldn’t be complete without our own local indie bookstore: Grassrootz. Ali Nervis recently launched this bookstore at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the shop has already garnered huge community love and support. Once Nervis is able to safely open the bookstore to the public, he plans to have a juice bar and coffee shop inside as well as a collaborative workspace for the community. Reflecting on the surge of anti-racism sales over the 2020 Summer, he tells AZ Central that, “(As a bookstore) we find ourselves in the position to help educate our society and hopefully, we can bring sustainable change. It’s all based off of buying these books from our bookstore.”
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Semicolon Bookstore: Chicago, IL
Semicolon Bookstore is currently Chicago’s only Black woman-owned indie bookstore. Beneath the bookstore, you’ll find a gallery where Chicago artists showcase their art. The bookstore also has a literacy-focused nonprofit called Paren(t)hesis, which supports and provides books for Chicago students. Once a month, the bookstore invites Chicago Public School students to the store to “#cleartheshelf” and take home whatever books they want. To donate directly to this cause, click here.
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Hakim’s Bookstore: Philadelphia, PA
This bookstore specializes in African American history, making it a great choice for your Black History Month shopping. Dawud Hakim opened this bookstore in the late 1950s, when it was extremely rare to find bookstores that addressed the history and culture of Black Americans. Hakim built the store’s reputation by providing access to rare books and periodicals that scholars struggled to find in mainstream libraries and bookstores. Though Hakim has since passed, his legacy lives on with his bookstore’s dedication to educating readers about African American history.
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Ashay By The Bay: Vallejo, CA
This bookstore specializes in children’s books and has the largest selection of African American and multicultural books online. In addition to children’s books, the store also sells a number of educational materials, including activity books, puzzles, and more. This store is a great choice for books for infants to teens. To learn about events and book sales, check out the bookstore’s blog.
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Loyalty Bookstore: Silver Spring, MD
Loyalty Bookstore sellers dedicate themselves to highlighting and recommending books by queer writers and authors of color that often fall under the radar in traditional book publishing and publicity. The bookstore hosts a Loyalty Leap of Faith Subscription Box, which includes a book “by a BIPOC, Queer, Disabled, or otherwise marginalized writer that is emerging [so we can] celebrate their work with all of our might!” To complement these book boxes, the store also invites subscribers to virtual events featuring the subscription box’s authors.
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Cafe con Libros: Brooklyn, NY
Cafe con Libros is a feminist bookstore and coffee shop that is guided by the rich canon of Black feminist writers and activists. On top of selling books, fair trade coffee, and locally baked pastries, the bookstore team strives to foster a welcoming and diverse community. In order to build a space for dialogue, the bookstore hosts a Feminist Book Club every second Sunday of the month and a Womxn of Color Book Club every fourth Sunday.
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The Dock Bookshop: Fort Worth, TX
The Dock Bookshop is the largest African American owned full-service bookstore in the Southwest. It builds the local literary community by hosting author talks, poetry events, children’s story time, panel discussions, film screenings, and more. The store sells books, coffee, and gift items, including candles, novelty items, and greeting cards.
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AALBC: Tampa, FL
Founded by Troy Johnson in 1997, AALBC, or the African American Literature Book Club, is the oldest online bookstore dedicated to African American and Black literature. The bookstore operates strictly online, but it still connects its readers through the website’s discussion forums. A few of its most popular forums are “Black Literature,” “Culture, Race & Economy,” and “The Poetree.” The online bookstore also produces book reviews to help you find the perfect next read.
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Shop at Matter: Denver, CO
Colorado’s only Black-owned bookstore, Shop at Matter sells books, stationary, prints, games, and art supplies. In addition to being a bookstore, this eclectic business is also a print shop, studio, and graphic design consultancy. Its curated book collection focuses largely on social justice, race, gender, LGBTQ+ rights, and activism.
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Medu Bookstore: Atlanta, GA
Medu Bookstore is the second largest African American owned bookstore in Atlanta. It specializes in rare but culturally significant books. Nia Damali has owned and managed the store since 1989. Her bookstore shapes the southern Atlanta literary community with book signings, lectures, and storytelling events. With its wide selection of books, Medu Bookstore is a great place to find books about Black history, heritage, and cultures.
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We encourage you to purchase a book from a Black-owned bookstore this Black History Month, but for more ways to support these bookstores, check out this blog post.
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