​Celebrate the holidays and support BEM!

​Join us for an evening of festivity and fundraising to support BEM, your home for food literature of the African diaspora. Purchase your ticket today and come ready to party while helping us bring you more Black food books next year and beyond.

​We'll have delicious bites, drinks courtesy of Ten To One Rum and Bed-Vyne Wine & Spirits, and a dessert to cap off the evening. PLUS, the fabulous DJ Monday Blue will be spinning to set the mood.

​Bring a favorite recipe to contribute to our community board and take one with you that you'd like to try. Get raffle tickets for fun food-related items and do a little holiday shopping while you're at it, too.

​Stop by any time after doors open at 6pm. We'll wrap up the evening with the raffle drawing around 9:30pm, so be sure to arrive in time to get your tickets!

​Raffle Items

​ ~ 2-Day Farm Stay and Tour for Four in the Hudson Valley, courtesy of Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming

​~ Private Dinner for 6 by Chef Nana Araba Wilmot

​ ~ 6-Night Stay for Two at a Tanzanian Beach Lodge, courtesy of Kelewele NYC

​ ~ Photo Print from "Hands, Please!" by Clay Williams

​ ~ Black Owned Spirits + Cocktail Book Bundle

​ ~ Brunch for 2 at Little Egg

​ ~ BEM merch, book, and product bundles plus more to be announced!

​Ticket Options

• ​Community Builder | includes entry with bites and dessert

• ​Story Supporter | includes entry plus 1 drink ticket

• ​Culinary Catalyst | includes entry plus 2 drink tickets

​Raffle tickets and additional drink tickets will be available for purchase onsite. N/A beverages will also be available throughout the evening.

​Raffle proceeds will support the BEM Cultural Foundation, our new sibling nonprofit which presents all of our programs. All other event proceeds will go to BEM, the Black food bookstore you know and love. If you've enjoyed one of our events this fall, come out for the good food and good energy you've come to expect at 373 Lewis Ave. If you haven't been able to visit in person yet, this is the perfect opportunity to see the space and help us prepare for a bountiful and delicious 2026.

​What We're Raising For

• ​inventory upgrades so we can get more of the books from our online collection onto our shelves

• ​outfitting our space for more programs and more food offerings in our cafe

• ​upgrading our point of sale and inventory system to integrate our in-person and online shops for a smoother experience for all of you

​If you're interested in learning more about supporting the BEM Cultural Foundation with a tax-deductible gift, write to us at [email protected]. Thank you!

​​More about BEM

​​​​​​​​​BEM is a bookstore and culinary hub dedicated to global Black foodways and storytelling. Established online by two sisters in January 2021, BEM is proud to serve as a home for readers, writers, cooks, and eaters passionate about African diasporic cultures in all their diversity.

​Taking an expansive approach to the nexus of food, literature, and culture, BEM brings works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry for readers of all ages into conversation with cookbooks and culinary studies to explore how what feeds us defines us.

​In October 2025, we opened our brick & mortar in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and established a sibling non-profit, the BEM Cultural Foundation, to further amplify our work deepening public knowledge of Black culinary and literary traditions.

​​​​​​​​​​Join our mailing list and follow us on Instagram @bembrooklyn for more. Shop our collection online at bembrooklyn.com or in person at 373 Lewis Avenue in New York City.