By Kylie Marsh
Kylie.marsh@triangletribune.com
RALEIGH – December 29 was the fourth day of Kwanzaa, dedicated to Ujamaa, or cooperative economics. It also was a historic day in North Carolina.
Liberation Station, the state’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore, reopened its doors at its new location, 430 Hill Street in Raleigh, thanks to over $71,000 in community donations through GoFundMe.
The bookstore was open for a year in downtown Raleigh before racial threats and security concerns led founders Victoria Scott-Miller and Duane Miller to shut down. Scott-Miller said Monday’s celebration was not about grief.
“Today, this moment right here isn’t about what tried to stop us. Struggle doesn’t get the spotlight today. Grief doesn’t get the microphone. Today belongs to liberation,” she said to a small crowd of children and families gathered to celebrate the reopening and purchase books.
“When the world said, ‘not now,’ we said, ‘watch us;’ and every time something tried to dim our light, we gathered more candles,” Scott-Miller said. “Liberation is not a moment, it is a practice.”
The Millers’ two sons, Langston, 9, and Emerson, 15, spoke on the significance of the bookstore’s opening.
“I like this bookstore because I see kids who look like me. I see kids who are smart, brave and doing amazing,” Emerson Miller said. “That makes me feel good about who I am.”
Langston Miller discussed how people of color, including Black people, have been racially profiled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement countrywide.
“This can be very frightening for a young Black child to be looked at as a potential threat or to be misidentified. That is why this is important,” he said.
Despite receiving death threats at the former downtown location, the family stood steadfast in their mission.
“I’m sure you have all heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, but what is a village without the resources? What is a classroom without the materials to learn or to teach? And how do you find these resources when they are constantly being taken away?” Langston asked. “These are the reasons it was imperative that we return.”
The three cut the ribbon before patrons lined up to enter the intimate space and browse titles from authors throughout the African diaspora, like “I is for Immigrants,” “The ABC’s of Black History,” and “Be, Black Girl, Be.”
Liberation Station is in Montague Plaza on Rock Quarry Road, named after James “Monte” Montague, president of Black-owned F7 International Development. Montague Plaza was developed with the intention of supporting Black-owned businesses in Southeast Raleigh, a historic Black community. It is also the site of a nail salon, smoothie and juice bar, a barbershop, a gym and more.
