Event

Sister's Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center Inaugural Gala

Sister's Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center, Harlem's longest-standing Black-owned bookstore and a cultural anchor since 2000, will host its inaugural Voices of Harlem Gala on Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at The Riverside Church in New York City. The fundraising celebration will help sustain the bookstore's mission and support its literacy, cultural preservation, and community programming.
Hosted by founder Janifer P. Wilson, the gala will celebrate Harlem's literary and cultural legacy. The evening will bring together fine dining, live entertainment, and philanthropy, with dinner catered by Harlem's Miss Mamie's Spoonbread Too.
The inaugural gala will recognize four honorees whose work reflects Sister's Uptown's commitment to literature, education, entrepreneurship, cultural preservation, and service to community.
2026 HonoreesHerb Boyd: community activist, author, and columnist for the Amsterdam News.Dawn Harris-Martine: Harlem educator and owner of Grandma's Place, Toys & Children's Books.Wade and Cheryl Hudson: founders of Just Us Books and pioneering publishers of Black children's literature.Yvonne Stennett: executive director of the Community League of the Heights (CLOTH) and longtime community leader.
About Sister's Uptown Bookstore & Cultural CenterJanifer P. Wilson opened Sister's Uptown Bookstore in January 2000 with a commitment to ensuring that children and adults could see Black life, history, and achievement reflected in the books around them. In June 2007, she expanded the institution with Sister's Uptown Cultural Center, creating a family-operated community resource devoted to the exchange of information and ideas.
For more than 25 years, Sister's Uptown has served readers, writers, scholars, artists, families, and neighbors through Black literature, author events, book clubs, poetry, storytelling, music, workshops, and intergenerational programming. Today it stands as Harlem's longest-standing Black-owned bookstore and one of New York City's few independent Black-owned bookstores, continuing its mission to preserve, promote, and celebrate Black literature and culture for future generations.

Presented by Sister's Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center.

Community Special Events Morningside Heights


Plan Your Visit

Schedule & Tickets

Saturday, October 24 @ 6:00 pm
212-862-3680
get tickets

Venue

Riverside Church
490 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10027
212-870-6700
map & directions


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