The Sisterhood Sit-In Trolley is a guided tour that transports guests to various Black-woman-owned businesses in and around Philadelphia. Averaging $50 per person, guests visit various businesses in the area to support “sisters” in the community.
A ‘Unique’ Response
Owner Jeannine Cook started the trolley tour in 2022 after organizing a unique sit-in event at her bookstore, Harriett’s Bookshop. According to WHYY News, Cook opened the bookshop in February 2020 and immediately began receiving threatening messages about its existence.
Cook named the bookstore after Harriett Tubman, an abolitionist and instrumental part of the Underground Railroad. She made it clear from the beginning that the bookstore is an ode to the freedom, protection, and prosperity of Black women.
After receiving the threatening messages about the shop, Cook organized a creative take on her sit-in concept. The new take included spoken word, conversation, and more, all centered around uplifting Black women and Black-women-owned businesses.
Starting the Trolley
That’s how the Sisterhood Sit-In Trolley was born. She decided to take the concept of her sit-in and expand it to help support other Black-woman-owned businesses in Philadelphia.
“Although Black women were opening businesses at a rapid pace, our businesses were closing at an equally rapid pace,” Cook told WHYY News. “And so here is the tour, which says to people during Women’s History Month, no better time to support the women in your communities.”
On the tour, guests get a chance to connect, laugh, and learn about various businesses in the area. The two-hour-long tour stops at businesses across categories, from a Black-woman-owned hotel called Yowie to an apothecary called Freedom Apothecary. Other stops include Cook’s Bookstore, a cafe called Coffee Creams and Dreams, and more.
Each stop offers an opportunity to shop, interact with the staff, or the owners of the business, and learn about what the business offers the community.
“It’s a time when you can come together, relax, celebrate your sisterhood-ness,” Cook said to WHYY News. “I like to say we’re doing the sisterhood shimmy ’cause we’re sitting pretty, and the brotherhood bounces — it’s a time for commerce, connection, and community.”