Ujamaa Community Bookstore

06/17/2026

The Juneteenth Afterparty at Ujamaa is getting stacked! We're proud to announce our next feature artist: Rusty Redenbacher is Nasty Slim.

Ujamaa turns 5 years old this Friday, June 19th, and Rusty will be kicking off our birthday celebration at 4 PM. You don't want to miss this set!

First of all, Rusty is a legendary musician in Indianapolis, 30+ years in the game. Second, 4 PM is when we are sharing some free appetizers.

So come out, get some food, and vibe to some great tunes while celebrating Juneteenth and Ujamaa's birthday--all at the same time!

06/15/2026

We have a limited edition t-shirt drop in Ujamaa just in time for our Juneteenth celebration on Friday, June 19th. These gorgeous shirts were designed by Sly Badges Infoshop and printed by Cat Head Press !

Our last Juneteenth shirt featured the words of Assata Shakur and we wanted to honor her again since she passed last fall. 100% of the proceeds will go toward our education and wellness mission.

We are also celebrating the people who've made Ujamaa great and Alecia Barnes is one of them. We are happy we still get to see her everyday and were grateful she agreed to model her new shirt for us.

We love you Alecia! Thank you for carrying this little bookstore all the way to its 5th birthday with us!

06/15/2026

We're getting hyped for our daylong Juneteenth celebration this Friday, June 19th!

Ujamaa Community Bookstore is hosting an afterparty following the street festival at 4 pm to celebrate our 5th anniversary! We are excited to announce that Foosie is going to be our event headliner!

We have some other feature artists to announce this week but we want you to save the date. Our afterparty starts at 4 pm and includes free food, poetry, and music. The hype train is leaving the station!

📸: .wav

06/13/2026

Our annual Juneteenth celebration is right around the corner and we have several reasons to celebrate this Friday, June 19th at Flanner House!

First, our annual street festival will take place from 11 am - 3 pm on the Flanner House campus! There will be dozens of vendors, food trucks, and games and activities for the kids! Bring the family and support some local Black business owners!

Second, we will be hosting a huge plant sale on Flanner Farms. Come get some green!

Third, we will be celebrating the 7th birthday of Cleo's Bodega & Cafe' ! The cafe will be open during the festival and host live music around 12 pm!

Finally, Ujamaa Community Bookstore is celebrating our 5th birthday with an "afterparty" at 4 pm. We will have some free food, a free hip hop and spoken word poetry showcase, and free air conditioning!

We stretched out the day to give you more opportunities to celebrate with us! We can't wait to see you!

06/08/2026

The Ujamaa staff is getting excited for Juneteenth! Our full day of fun includes our annual street celebration from 11 am - 4 pm! Then we'll have an afterparty at 5 pm inside Ujamaa for our 5th anniversary as a bookstore. We'll share exciting details this week!

It all goes down on Friday, June 19th! Save the date! And if you are interested in volunteering fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSenMDLFrEgzKyt8gek8oP9U5o99F8YQsN3jR5Hmt9KbOEmsYg/viewform

If you are interested in vending send us a message and we will DM you the application!

06/05/2026

We are saddened to hear the news of the death of one of history's greatest storytellers, Marjane Satrapi. Marjane is most famous for her work, Perseopolis, a beautiful graphic novel accounting her childhood during the Islamic revolution in Iran.

Marjane was bold, poetic, and vivid in her retelling of the stories from her life- inspiring a generation of readers with her passion.

To honor Marjane, we will be hosting a screening of Perseopolis, as well as having a discussion of her legacy and work. We hope you enjoy her words as much as we do.

Rest In Power, Marjane.

06/03/2026

We are getting ready for our Juneteenth Celebration and our 5 year anniversary, both on June 19th... BUT

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We are soliciting volunteers to help us for the day and we could use a few more helpful friends.

We have two shifts available: from 8 am - 2 pm and from 2 pm - 7 pm. We need help both inside and outside so let us know what suits you best.

Please send all inquiries to [email protected] if you are interested in helping us host this celebration!!!

https://forms.gle/YWSg8NETZf6PKN3F8

05/16/2026

Join us for our new FREE summer reading program--for kids AND adults!

Local bookstores, The Whispering Shelf and Ujamaa Community Bookstore are teaming up to offer prizes to kids ages 18 and younger.

The bookstores will provide children with a free, interactive reading log. Kids can redeem mini-prizes as they reach each reading benchmark.

Youth who reach 700 minutes can win a small cheese pizza from HotBox Pizza.

They’ll also be offered either a book goodie bag or a $15 gift card to use at The Whispering Shelf or Ujamaa Community Bookstore.

The program, called Hop Into Reading, runs from May 15 to July 31.

Families can visit The Whispering Shelf, 414 N. College Ave., or Ujamaa Community Bookstore, 2424 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. St., to pick up a reading log and redeem prizes throughout the summer.

05/08/2026

We are thrilled to invite you to the annual Flanner House Juneteenth Celebration on Friday, June 19th.

We are also celebrating the 5 year anniversary of our beloved Ujamaa Community Bookstore.

We have a lot more fun details to announce but we want you to go ahead and save the date!

We are excited to celebrate with you!

05/07/2026

We have copies of We Refuse: a Forceful History of Black Resistance in the store.

It just so happens to be the May pick for the Circle City Book Bloc discussion, so grab it before it sells out!