NYC Black Women Bookstore Crawl Celebrates Culture and Community
Turning Pages, Building Community: Inside Bed-Stuy’s Black Women-Owned Bookstore Crawl Across New York City, a dynamic network of Black women-owned bookstores is ensuring that stories continue to be told and shared through the NYC Black-Owned Women B...
Black News 
Turning Pages, Building Community: Inside Bed-Stuy’s Black Women-Owned Bookstore Crawl
Across New York City, a dynamic network of Black women-owned bookstores is ensuring that stories continue to be told and shared through the NYC Black-Owned Women Bookstore Crawl.
At the forefront of this initiative is Tiffany Dockery, founder of Gladys Books & Wine, who saw an opportunity to spotlight what she describes as a literary renaissance.
“It seemed like a great opportunity to showcase what I believe is a renaissance of Black women-owned bookstores in the city,” Dockery said. “There’s no better way to celebrate Women’s History than by celebrating the women making history today.”
Inside Gladys Books & Wine, shelves filled with works by and about Black women are paired with curated displays and images honoring trailblazers of both the past and present. The space reflects the mission behind the crawl: to celebrate identity, amplify voices, and build community.
Co-created with Darlene Okpo of Uh-Doh-Nay Bookshop, the crawl brings together bookstore owners committed to more than selling books. The initiative creates welcoming spaces where people can gather, learn, and feel seen.
Gabrielle Davenport, co-founder of BEM | Books & More, emphasized the importance of collaboration.
“This was another opportunity to band together with Black women who are committed to creating warm, welcoming, and safe spaces for our community, and getting more people reading,” Davenport said.
With 11 bookstores participating across the city, the crawl encourages exploration rather than competition. For Davenport, success is rooted in connection.
“By going to one bookstore, they’re more likely to stop in another when they walk past,” she said. “Any way we can encourage that kind of cross-pollination is a success for all of us.”
Participants can visit each location and collect stamps, turning the crawl into an interactive journey through the city’s literary landscape. Each bookstore offers a unique experience, from curated selections to community-driven events.
The crawl also includes incentives to keep participants engaged.
“Each stamp is your passport into a new world,” Dockery said. “And if you get enough stamps, you can also get discounts on exclusive merchandise and in-store purchases.”
More than a bookstore tour, the NYC Black-Owned Women Bookstore Crawl is a celebration of culture, entrepreneurship, and the enduring power of storytelling—one page, and one stop, at a time.
