By Mia Khatib
mia.khatib@triangletribune.com
RALEIGH — The state’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore launched in downtown Raleigh last Juneteenth, but it will be moving out at the end of the month. Liberation Station owner Victoria Scott-Miller says safety concerns and threats played a big part in their decision.
A Facebook post on their official account said they’ve received numerous threats since September, including a disturbing phone call detailing what their 13-year-old son Langston was wearing while at the store alone. He helps run the store with his parents.
“In response, we’ve been strategizing within our means to avoid being targeted. This has involved frequently changing our operating hours, generating content after hours, and taking turns between my husband and me to oversee the store,” Scott-Miller wrote. “Despite the challenges, our bookstore has brought immense joy, and we’ve been determined not to become another headline of controversy. We’ve worked tirelessly to create a safe space not just for our community but for our own family as well.”
Liberation Station, which features more than a thousand books by Black authors, illustrators and creators, will continue operations until April 13, but the online store will remain open. Prior to its location at 208 Fayetteville Street, the bookstore was a 4-by-6-foot pop-up for five years.
Scott-Miller told The Tribune their experiences aren’t forcing them out, they have just decided not to renew their lease that ends on April 30. They’re not actively looking for a new location just yet, but some ideas for their next space include a floor level storefront, large windows, and an expansion to their braille wall for visually impaired kids, she said.
“Our next space will be a place where we can really amplify the programming that we were already doing but just on a larger scale, so that it can be a bit more community centered and community accessible,” she said. “Not only do we have to take into consideration our personal safety [but] because we’re in the business of children, that was a big part of it. We’re responsible for their safety.”
And while Scott-Miller and her husband were initially hesitant to disclose their experience publicly, she said they felt responsible to not just talk about the good and share their story to connect with others. To her, the outpouring community support has been incredibly humbling and confirms they’re filling the right need.
“It’s important to read books that represent kids like me because it makes me feel happy, it makes me feel like I am seen and empowers me to see that I can do anything,” Langston, 13, told The Tribune last year. “I wish I had more of that outside of the house because I don’t really see too many books that represent kids like me at school.”
Mia Khatib, who covers affordable housing and gentrification, is a Report for America corps member.
