Black-Owned

The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore

By: Char Adams

Narrated by: Shayna Small

Longtime NBC News reporter Char Adams writes a deeply compelling and rigorously reported history of Black political movements told through the lens of Black-owned bookstores, which have been centers for organizing from abolition to the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter.

In Black-Owned, Char Adams celebrates the living history of Black bookstores. Packed with stories of activism, espionage, violence, community, and perseverance, Black-Owned starts with the first Black-owned bookstore, which an abolitionist opened in New York in 1834, and after the bookshop’s violent demise, Black book-lovers carried on its cause. In the twentieth century, civil rights and Black Power activists started a Black bookstore boom nationwide. Malcolm X gave speeches in front of the National Memorial African Book Store in Harlem—a place dubbed “Speakers’ Corner”—and later, Black bookstores became targets of FBI agents, police, and racist vigilantes. Still, stores continued to fuel Black political movements.

Amid these struggles, bookshops were also places of celebration: Eartha Kitt and Langston Hughes held autograph parties at their local Black-owned bookstores. Maya Angelou became the face of National Black Bookstore Week. And today a new generation of Black activists is joining the radical bookstore tradition, with rapper Noname opening her Radical Hood Library in Los Angeles and several stores making national headlines when they were overwhelmed with demand in the Black Lives Matter era. As Adams makes clear, in an time of increasing repression, Black bookstores are needed now more than ever.

Full of vibrant characters and written with cinematic flair, Black-Owned is an enlightening story of community, resistance, and joy.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF with a list of recommended books and a guide for finding Black-owned bookstores by state.

Must-read

Wow, just wow! This book was fascinating and arrived right on time for me. There is so much history in these pages that I’m calling it a must-read for anyone interested in Black history. It’s incredibly thorough. I took my time reading it because it’s packed with knowledge. There are sticky notes on damn near every page of my hardcover.

We first learn about David Ruggles, who ran the country’s first known Black-owned bookstore in the 1800s, along with so many other pioneers. I mean, it’s loaded with nuggets.

I have always known about the government’s attempts to silence Black leaders, but I didn’t realize the extent of what was done to Black bookstores and their owners.

Author Char Adams did an amazing job; you can tell she likely spent years on research alone.

I am currently at war with my local Barnes & Noble over how they never have new releases from popular Black authors, or how they refuse to put up displays for Black History Month. Since February 6, 2026, I’ve only shopped at Black-owned bookstores and indie bookstores that support our authors.

One of the best things about this book is in the back. there’s a list of all active Black-owned bookstores.

My only critique is that the book felt a little dry at times. I listened to the audiobook while reading along with the physical copy. The narrator, Shayna Small, did an outstanding job, but at times it read more like a textbook.

Here’s a quote:

“Toni Morrison joined Random House as an editor in 1967 and immediately got to work. Random House published more than two dozen books by Black authors during Morrison’s sixteen years with the company. After she left, that number dwindled, with Random House publishing just two books by black authors between 1984 and 1990–one of which was Morrison’s own book Beloved.” 😡

A treasure of history

I’ve visited Black bookstores whenever I am near one and they’re always been a community hub. But I’d never realized their long history and the many ways they intersected with and served as incubator for great visions and community growth. Thank you for doing this extensive research and sharing it with us!