A Black-owned children’s bookstore in Raleigh, North Carolina, is reopening after it had closed its doors in 2024 due to threats. Liberation Station features books written by Black authors that the owners have read with their children.
Liberation Station is reopening on Dec. 29
The bookstore announced it would be reopening Dec. 29 after closing its brick-and-mortar location in 2024. It will now be located on 430 Hill Street in Raleigh.
“It feels like a homecoming,” Victoria Scott-Miller, the store’s owner, told The News & Observer. “It just feels right. This is a time of so much polarization in this country. We needed a space.”
@liberationstationbks ✨ THIS IS WHAT UJAMAA LOOKS LIKE ✨ I’ve watched this community take our story and turn it into action. We went viral, yes—but what matters more is that I’m witnessing cooperative economics in real time. People choosing each other. People choosing care. As we prepare to reopen Liberation Station Bookstore on December 29th, the 4th day of Kwanzaa—Ujamaa, so many of you have asked: “How can I help?” Here’s how we build—together—and exactly what your support makes possible: 🛒 AMAZON WISHLIST — Community Care + Creation This list directly supplies what families need and what our future programming requires. • Pads & period products → dignity, choice, and care • Diapers & wipes → relief for parents and caregivers • Food & household staples → nourishment and stability • Podcast equipment → the intergenerational podcast studio we’re building inside Liberation Station, where elders, parents, and children can record, archive, and share stories across generations Every item ships straight to us and goes immediately into use. 🔗 https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1BZ9BQVW3YBUO 💚 GOFUNDME — Powering the Reopening These funds support renovations, inclusive and diverse book inventory, utilities, staffing, and the operational costs it takes to keep North Carolina’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore alive and accessible. 🔗 https://gofund.me/1e3e105c 🤍 KO-FI — Sustainability & Longevity Monthly members and one-time gifts help us plan beyond survival. This is how we build something that lasts—something our children can inherit. 🔗 https://ko-fi.com/liberationstationbookstore 📦 DIRECT MAIL — Send Love to Our Door Care items, books, handwritten notes, affirmations—every bit of love is welcome here: 430 Hill St Raleigh, NC 27610 In April 2024, we closed because hate tried to win. In December 2025, we reopen because love is disciplined, collective, and unstoppable. Your shares brought us here. Your support is carrying us forward. Your belief in Black children’s liberation is changing lives. Thank you for holding us. Thank you for walking with us. Welcome to Liberation Station. 🤍
♬ original sound – Liberation Station Bookstore
The business was able to relocate due to a successful fundraising campaign. After the bookstore shut down, the owner sought funding to find a new and safe location, and a GoFundMe campaign received a total of over $70,000. The top donor, who identified herself as Tabitha Brown, gave $10,000 to the campaign.
Liberation Station also received support in its fundraising effort after TikTok influencer Jen Hamilton shared it online after the campaign was created.
“Less than 24 hours. Nearly $6,000 raised. We’ve already met 10% of our $60,000 goal to reopen Liberation Station—and that’s not just a number. That’s proof,” the bookstore shared in a July 15 Instagram post.
“Proof that our community believes in this vision. Proof that no threat, no attempt to erase us, will keep us from rising,” it added. “Because a year ago, we were forced to leave. Threats were made—against our safety, our children, our sanctuary. But here’s what they didn’t know: We don’t fold. We build. We return.”
The bookstore initially closed after receiving threats
Liberation Station first opened on Fayetteville Street in 2023 with the goal of offering a safe space for Black children to feel represented in literature. Shortly after it opened, the bookstore started receiving hate messages and death treats online and on the business’s phone number.
As a result, Scott-Miller decided to close the bookstore. She said the new location now feels safe because it is surrounded by other Black-owned businesses.
“I do think that we’ll have the same sense of security because it’s supported by the community,” she said. “This community has not disappointed in rising to the occasion.”