Events
Join us for vibrant events that celebrate Black culture, literature, and community!
Teach Truth Day of Action
Saturday, June 6
10:00 AM–1:00 PM
Join RootzGround & WingFly for Teach Truth Day of Action, a community event dedicated to protecting access to knowledge and defending the freedom to read.
Participants will receive free books!
Baldwin On My Mind
A Mosaic Magazine Reading
Wednesday, June 10
6:00 PM–8:00 PM
Join us for an evening celebrating the life, legacy, and enduring influence of James Baldwin.
Presented by the Literary Freedom Project and James Baldwin at 100, this special Mosaic Magazine reading brings together acclaimed writers and poets for an inspiring literary gathering.
Featured readers include:
Keisha Gaye Anderson, Tangela Mitchell, Yesenia Montilla, and Peggy Robles Alvarado. The evening will be hosted by Roberto Garcia.
The Uptown Poetry Circle
Open Mic: All Poets, Singers, and Musicians are Welcome
Thursday, June 18
7:00 PM
The Uptown Poetry Circle, where music meets spoken word, invites you to an open mic night at Sister’s Uptown Bookstore. All poets, singers, and musicians are welcome. There are no features and no lists, just good vibes.
The evening features The G.E.T. Up Ensemble, along with Aquah Beale, Atiba Wilson, Kiyoko Layne, Mike Sanders, and Ngoma Hill. Join us every Third Thursday for an engaging night of music and spoken word.
Suggested donation is $7.00 with a two soft drink minimum.
Harlem Renaissance Stroll
In Celebration of Juneteenth
Saturday, June 20
Join us for the Harlem Renaissance Stroll, a day of culture, community, learning, and celebration across Harlem!
This special Juneteenth fundraiser supports Manhattan's only Black-owned bookstore and features activities at three unique locations throughout the day.
Stop 1: Sister's Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center
1942 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10032
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: METAMOVE (Martial Arts) Class
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Book Giveaway
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Morningside Art Collective
Stop 2: Patrick's On The Hill
1635 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10031
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM: Networking & Food
Stop 3: Tully Home
Harlem, NY 10031
8:30 PM – 11:30 PM: Speakeasy & Silent Auction
Metamorphosis Movement
Saturday, June 27
Children 5–13 | 10:00–10:45 AM
Teens & Adults | 11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Join our community martial arts classes every last Saturday of the month! Only $20 per session.
Featured Items
Discover a curated selection of books, gifts, and cultural treasures that inspire, inform, and celebrate Black culture!
Book of the Week
Natasha Trethewey, Monument
Urgent new poems on race and gender inequality, and select poems drawing upon Domestic Work, Bellocq’s Ophelia, Native Guard, Congregation, and Thrall, from two-time U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey.
Layering joy and urgent defiance—against physical and cultural erasure, against white supremacy whether intangible or graven in stone—Trethewey’s work gives pedestal and witness to unsung icons. Monument, Trethewey’s first retrospective, draws together verse that delineates the stories of working class African American women, a mixed-race prostitute, one of the first Black Civil War regiments, mestizo and mulatto figures in Casta paintings, and Gulf coast victims of Katrina. Through the collection, inlaid and inextricable, winds the poet’s own family history of trauma and loss, resilience and love.
Gift Gallery
Sister’s Uptown Bookstore Cap
Represent Sister’s Uptown with the latest addition to our gift gallery.
Family Owned & Operated
Dynamic Duo!
Janifer P. Wilson
President/Visionary
On or about January 1, 2000, I took a leap of faith and brought a positive change to a crumbling community; I opened Sisters Uptown Bookstore and added “Sister’s Uptown Cultural Center” in June 2007. We provide resources for members of the community to nurture their minds, hearts and souls with present and past works of gifted African American authors and other great authors and intellectuals including masters of spoken word.
We have successfully become a positive staple in the community of Washington Heights and recently celebrated 15 years of community service. We are not just a book store; we are a community resource center for the exchange of information and ideas. Our motto is “knowledge is key”. We provide an educational, emotional, spiritual and loving environment for our diverse community where all are welcomed.
Kori N. Wilson
Vice-President/Manager of Operations
We are not just a book store; we are a community resource center for the exchange of information and ideas. Our motto is “Knowledge of Self is the key to Understanding”. We provide an educational, emotional, spiritual and loving environment for a diverse community, where all are welcome.
