Victoria Scott-Miller, a Black entrepreneur, spent several years coordinating pop-up events to promote her business. Now, she’s preparing to launch her first children’s bookstore, Liberation Station, this summer in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.
“I feel so incredibly blessed,” Scott-Miller said in an interview with WRAL News. “It makes me feel so full because I never envisioned getting a brick-and-mortar.”
Scott-Miller founded the business with her husband, Duane Miller, in 2019 after struggling to find books for their two sons, Emerson and Langston, to read. Since children often emulate the characters they watch on television or read in books, their vision was to create a positive space for Black children to see themselves represented in literature.
The couple held mobile pop-up events throughout the Research Triangle in North Carolina, showcasing their work at well-known places such as The Durham Hotel and Sarah Duke Gardens. As a result, Liberation Station gained national recognition, with features from Good Morning America, The Washington Post, CNN, Oprah Magazine and more.
Liberation Nation’s mission is to support Black literacy, legacy and liberation, providing high-quality children’s books written and illustrated by Black and Diasporic creators.
Scott-Miller said the bookstore will be open to the public on the week of June 19, just in time for the city to kick off its annual Juneteenth activities. The business owner also partnered with The Bulls of Durham, launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for additional services for the bookstore following its grand opening.
“We were the first Black-owned bookstore we ever set foot in,” she told the news outlet. “To know that we have carved out a space in the universe for our children to feel safe and to be able to be curious, to be joyful. … It’s overwhelming to think about.”
The bookstore will be divided into four sections, featuring works from the African Diaspora, a deep dive into the Black childhood experience, text written by well-known authors whose publications were banned from some school curriculums, and works curated for adults that offer empowering messages of encouragement.
“Raleigh deserves this,” Scott-Miller said. “It just made me feel like we can do it too.”
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