NC’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore opens with Juneteenth celebration. How to go.

After Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, bookstore owner Victoria Scott-Miller started noticing it becoming heavily commercialized. The stores around her became filled with anything from Juneteenth-themed T-shirts to red, green and black ice pops.

To bring back the holiday’s true message as a day of reflection and celebration, Scott-Miller decided to open North Carolina’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore — Liberation Station — during Juneteenth weekend.

“This cannot get lost in the mix, we have to acknowledge the fact that Juneteenth is a moment for not only reflection but a moment in which we are able to know,” she said. “This is when information became available to our people that they were free.”

Liberation Station, which opens Saturday in downtown Raleigh, was started by Scott-Miller and her husband Duane Miller as a way to create a space where Black children and adults can see themselves in literature. Every book is written by a Black author and read by the duo and their two children, Emerson and Langston, before it is put in the store.

The opening’s timing brings awareness to the fact that historically Black people haven’t always been able to freely make a decision to read.

“It is a moment of rebellion,” she said. “You haven’t always had a choice to have these (resources) readily available at your fingertips. Now that you do, we hope that you choose. We hope that you are able to be inspired in that it’s able to take up space.”

Here’s how you can celebrate this time of reflection with Liberation Station all weekend long.

Saturday: Grand Opening and Book Signing

11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Day one will start with a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m.

At 11:30 am, there will be a book signing with 10 children’s book authors from across the country, including New York Times bestsellers Derrick Barnes and Vanessa Brantley Newton. Details about the authors and their books can be found here: https://liberationstationbookstore.com/upcoming-events.

Throughout the day Markel Williams, a bass-baritone singer from the North Carolina Opera, will sing Lift Every Voice and Sing at the bookstore’s step entrance.

There will also be an arts room with freshly spun cotton candy from WonderPuff, custom Juneteenth coloring pages and other crafts on the third floor.

Sunday: White Glove Day

Noon to 3 p.m.

Starting at noon, Raleigh Historian Carmen Cauthen will teach about Fayetteville Street’s Black history. She will also be signing copies of her book Historic Black Raleigh Neighborhoods.

Parents and children will be able to read some of the handwritten Frederick Douglass Papers and first-edition books from authors like Toni Morrison, Zora Neal Hurston, Bell Hooks, James Baldwin, Octavia Butler and Langston Hughes.

The day will conclude with Black ASL Storytime led by interpreter Valerie McMillan.

“Not only a child being able to see and feel these stories, but to also meet them in the language for which they are able to understand,” Scott-Miller said. “We don’t really see a lot of advocacy for the Black deaf community and so we wanted to bring that to the forefront.”

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Monday: Liberation Walk

11 a.m. to noon

On Juneteenth, a group of Black equestrians will lead a “liberation walk” from the state Capitol building back to Liberation Station.

“We’ll pass out pan-African flags, the red, black and green,” Scott-Miller said. “The kids are wearing green, all of the equestrians on horseback will be wearing Black and then my husband and I will be wearing red.”

After the march, there will be a book signing with Caitlin Gooch, also known as The Black Cowgirl.

What types of books are available?

The bookstore is organized by age, with books for the youngest readers on the lower shelves and those for older readers on the higher shelves. The books are also arranged by type, which Scott-Miller said is a story in itself.

On the left side of the store is the Diaspora wall, where books follow the voyage of the Transatlantic map, and on the right is the America wall.

“We wanted to showcase how our stories are connected,” she said. “That the displacement did not begin when we came to America. The interconnectedness of our people was abruptly dispersed without our permission and sometimes without our knowledge.”

Toward the front of the store is the Banned Book Section, which showcases literature banned across the nation. In the middle of the store is the Anchor Section, which pairs adult and children titles. Books like Marion Dane Bauer’s “Stuff of Stars” are paired with Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Cosmic Queries” and Bell Hooks’ “All About Love” is paired with “Homemade Love.” Scott-Miller said this section was designed to foster an intergenerational conversation between children and their caretakers.

“The things amplified in their world are also the things we have to compartmentalize,” she said. “I wasn’t taught to love my hair, there was no text that was readily available that talked about braids (or) told me to love my size. What this section says is that although our narratives were different, we can somehow learn from one another.”

Where is the Liberation Station Bookstore located?

Liberation Station is at 208 Fayetteville St, in downtown Raleigh. It shares an entrance with the Original Selfie Museum and is on the second floor. Parking is available on the street and in nearby parking garages, such as the Alexander Square deck.

Additional questions?

More information about the Liberation Station and its grand opening weekend can be found here: https://liberationstationbookstore.com/. You can also email liberationstationbookstore@gmail.com with questions.

“We are not fast food, we are not Amazon,” Scott-Miller said. “This is a lot to process for a lot of people and we want to be able to walk through that process with you. A lot of reflection is going to happen in this space.”