20 Black Owned Bookstores to Support This Holiday Season

As you continue your holiday shopping this season, consider supporting at least one of these Black Owned Indie Bookstores!

Afriware Books – Chicago, IL – Afriware Books is a Black owned bookstore and resource center located in the Chicago Suburb of Maywood.  Since 1993, AfriWare Books has served the community by providing a platform to showcase authors, artists and advocates who infuse us with a sense of cultural pride.

Akoma Books – Evansville, IN – Akoma Books was started in 2015, out of love and necessity. It was the first independently black-owned bookstore in Owensboro, Kentucky and temporarily only operates online out of Evansville, Indiana. Their mission is to help educate, empower, and promote cultural pride.

Jeannine A. Cook, Owner, Harriett’s Bookshop

Ashay By the Bay – Vallejo, CA – Established in 2002, Ashay by the Bay specializes in African American and Multi-Cultural Children’s Books for Baby-3 and K-12.  Not only do they sell to consumer and business markets, they also build custom collections for school and classroom libraries.

Avant-Garde Books – Atlanta, GA – Avant-garde Books sells new and used books for great prices. They are committed to promoting and building literacy skills among children, especially those who reside in socio-economically disadvantaged communities.

BeBombBookClub – Online – Be BOMB has great books with wonderful life lessons and beautiful illustrations from authors all over. Its owner, Christina Douglas-Williams, started Be BOMB Books because of her own personal experience as a mom.

Book Boutique – Atlanta, GA – Book Boutique is one of Atlanta’s ultimate premier African American owned, multicultural bookstores.

Books and Crannies – Martinsville, VA – Books and Crannies is a general interest/literary bookstore featuring a wide range of titles to include children’s books. They also carry a used book section, featuring $2 paperbacks and $5 hardbacks.

DTR 360 Books – Online – DTR 360 Books is an online Bookstore offering an extensive collection of black books that are sure to strengthen your mental arsenal.

Eso Won Books – Los Angeles, CA – Eso Won Books is a veteran bookshop spotlighting a range of titles about, and written by, African-American people.

Estelita’s Library – Seattle, WA – Estelita’s Library is a curated community bookstore and Library with books focused on social justice, ethnic studies, and liberation movements.  The goal of Estelita’s Library is to have community book talks, classes, meetings, history lessons, and much more to strengthen and develop our collective analysis for justice.

Eye See Me – University City, MO – EyeSeeMe African American Children’s Bookstore offers books that allow African American children to benefit from exposure to literature that respectfully mirrors themselves, their culture and their families. They are devoted exclusively to promoting positive African American Images and African American History while advocating for Academic Excellence.

Harriett’s Bookshop – Philadelphia, PA – Named for historical heroine Harriet Tubman, Harriett’s Bookshop celebrates women authors, women artists, and women activists.

Omar and Kimberly Finley, Owners of The Listening Tree

The Listening Tree – Decatur, GA – The Listening Tree is a children’s bookstore and education center whose mission is to perpetuate a love of literacy and learning in our global community.

Mahogany Books – Washington, DC – Mahogany Books is a local independent bookstore that promotes reading, writing, and cultural awareness as tools to improve self-esteem and self-love.  It was founded in 2007 in an effort to provide books written for, by, or about people of the African Diaspora.

Medu Bookstore – Atlanta, GA – Medu Bookstore is the second largest African-American owned bookstore in Atlanta, Georgia. It specializes in culturally significant and often hard to find books written, published, and distributed for the enhanced awareness and enjoyment of its readership.

Mocha Books Bookstore – Tulsa, OK – Mocha Books Bookstore’s mission is to promote literacy and to foster a love of reading in the home and the community.  It provides a curated book selection that highlights black and brown characters and/or written by author’s of color.

Modern Tribe Books – Online – Modern Tribe Books is an independently owned Bookstore & Distribution company specializing in African American culture through Books, Film, Art, and Healing.

Nubian Bookstore – Morrow, GA – Nubian Bookstore is an awesome source for African-American books, artwork and more!

Semi Colon Bookstore – Chicago, IL – Chicago’s only black woman-owned bookstore and gallery space, Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery is committed to nurturing the connection between literature, art, and the pursuit of knowledge; while also using the power of words to better our community. ​

Uncle Bobbies Coffee and Books – Philadelphia, PA – Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books is a Coffee Shop and Bookstore located in the heart of the Germantown section of Philadelphia. Founded by Marc Lamont Hill in 2017, Uncle Bobbie’s was created to provide underserved communities with access to books and a space where everyone feels valued. In addition to their specially curated book selection, they are also a community space that holds free author talks, and dozens of other events including weekly story time for kids and back to school drives.