26 Black-Owned, Independent Bookstores in New York, DC, MD, & VA

Me holding President Obama’s New Book, A Promised Land at Sister’s Uptown in New York, NY.

A tweet by Marc Lamont Hill inspired me to prioritize purchasing President Obama’s new book, A Promised Land, from a Black-Owned, Independent Bookstore. Although I’m more of a physical book kind of gal, I tend to purchase books digitally to save space in my New York apartment.

However, this is a book I knew I wanted in hard copy to read and for my bookshelf. It would have been so easy to jump on Amazon and have the book show up at my doorsteps in two days or less, but I made a conscious decision to do something different. I encourage you to do the same.

"If you’re going to buy President Obama’s new book, please buy it from an independent bookstore. A book like that keeps the light on for many stores.”

-Marc Lamont Hill

If you follow me on Instagram, you know how passionate I am in terms of being intentional about how and where I spend my money. Yesterday, I took a stroll to Sister’s Uptown in New York to get my copy of A Promised Land.

With all of these thoughts in mind, I thought I’d create a specific post for my online community of Black Owned, Independent Bookstores in the areas where most of my community lives (New York, Washington, D.C., Maryland, & Virginia). Those are also all the cities I’ve lived in :)

This list was pulled from an article in Oprah Magazine which I’ve linked below in case there are individuals who need Black-Owned, Independent Bookstores in other states. Happy Shopping! :)

26 Black-Owned, Independent Bookstores in New York, DC, MD, & VA

New York

• Blenheim Hill Books (Hobart, NY)

• Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn, NY)

• Grandma’s Place (New York, NY)

• Official Connections Books (Brooklyn, NY)

• Revolution Books (New York, NY)

• The Schomburg Shop (New York, NY)

• Sister’s Uptown (New York, NY) - Check out my NYC Gems IG Story Highlight for a tour of this store!

• The Lit Bar (Bronx, NY)

• Zawadi Books (Buffalo, NY)

Washington, D.C.

• Loyalty Bookstore

• Mahogancy Books

• Sankofa Video Books & Cafe

• Solid State Books

• The Charnice Milton Community Bookstore

• The Children of the Sun

Maryland

• Everyone’s Place (Baltimore, MD)

• Jay’s Books (Baltimore, MD)

• Loyalty Bookstore (Silver Spring, MD)

• Vision Christian Bookstore (Clinton, MD)

• Wisdom Bookstore (Gwynn Oak, MD)

Virginia

• Books and Crannies (Martinsville, VA)

• Harambe Books and Artworks (Alexandria, VA)

• House of Consciousness Bookstore (Norfolk, VA)

• Positive Vibes Bookstore (Virginia Beach, VA)

• Riches in Reading (Virginia Beach, VA)

• Urban Moon Books (Chesapeake, VA)

SOURCE: OPRAH MAGAZINE
For a full list of 125 Black-Owned, Independent Bookstores by State, visit the source of this information here.

Did you find this helpful? Encourage your family and friends to purchase “A Promised Land” and other reads from Black Owned, Independent Bookstores! Feel free to share this post!