The question that shifted everything came from my son, Langston. He was eight years old,
standing beside me in the children’s section of a national bookstore chain back in 2019. After
searching shelf after shelf, he looked up at me—full of hope, full of hurt—and asked, “Mommy,
where are the books with kids who look like me?”

That question didn’t just demand an answer. It required a life’s response.

That day, my husband Duane and I left with 113 books by Black authors and illustrators—$200
worth of belonging and reflection. We weren’t trying to build a business. We were trying to build
a world where our children could find themselves. That small act became the first brick in what
would grow into Liberation Station Bookstore—North Carolina’s first Black-owned children’s
bookstore.

Langston was eight. Emerson, just three. And from the beginning, they’ve shaped everything
we’ve done.

This Was Never Just About Books

Liberation Station was never built behind the scenes. We’ve always been out front—seen, heard,
and unapologetically committed to the joy and preservation of Black children.

That visibility led to national recognition: from Essence to The New York Times, from NPR to
Good Morning America, from Forbes to The Washington Post. But it also brought something
deeper—investment from people and institutions that believed in what we were building.

I was honored to be named a Village of Wisdom Fellow for my work affirming Black children’s
identities through literacy. I was selected as an Invested Faith Fellow for expanding the
imagination of what justice looks like in action. We received donations from The Carolina
Panthers and Lenovo, and quietly, from Katt Williams—all in support of the vision we carried:
that Black children deserve to be seen, safe, and celebrated.

We Faced Attacks. We Chose to Expand.

In 2024, we were targeted by racially motivated threats that forced us to close our physical space.
But what those who came against us didn’t understand is that when you come for a mother
protecting her children, you activate something ancestral.

We didn’t shrink. We reimagined.

And now, Liberation Station Bookstore is returning—not in hiding, but in full view—at
Montague Plaza in Southeast Raleigh, a 15,000 square foot space dedicated to Black-owned
businesses and located less than 500 ft. from the Southeast Raleigh Police Station.

This plaza represents more than a building—it represents a reclamation. Our new space will be
accessible, artful, and deeply intentional: a braille affirmation wall to greet every child in their
wholeness, a podcast studio to amplify our stories, and an author space where children and elders
gather to dream, learn, and create.

Most recently, we received an unexpected blessing that affirmed our path forward. Tabitha
Brown, actress, author, and fellow North Carolina native, donated $10,000 to our reopening
efforts. Her generosity reminded me that when we speak life into our children as Black geniuses,
we create ripples that reach across generations and communities.

A New Chapter for My Sons

Langston is now 14. He’s preparing to begin early college and dreams of becoming a paleo
geneticist—diving into the ancestry of human life to uncover what’s been buried and untold. That
doesn’t surprise me. He’s always been interested in origins, in stories that live beneath the
surface, in the work of remembering.

Emerson is nine and neurodivergent. After years of learning in the safety of The 40 Acre
Institute, he’s transitioning into an art-focused, neurodivergent-affirming elementary school. He
leads with creativity, with curiosity, and with a deep sense of emotional truth.

They are the heartbeat of every choice I make.

Beyond the Bookstore: Building Worlds Where Black Children Belong

Liberation Station is one branch. The Museum Lives in Me® is another—a literary and visual
culture initiative I created to fill the gaps we saw in public institutions. When my sons would
walk into museums and not see themselves reflected, I knew we had to write our way in. That
program led to a groundbreaking partnership with the North Carolina Museum of Art, where
Black children became the authors, artists, and curators of their own stories and now I write for
museums all across the country.

Then there’s The 40 Acre Institute, our radical homeschool created in response to schools that
could not see or hold my sons fully. There, we explored science through Black inventors,
practiced literacy through our own voices, and reclaimed our right to learn in peace and in
power.

This is What Happens When You Mother with Intention

People often ask how I do it all. The truth is, I mothered my way here.

Langston’s curiosity led me to ask better questions. Emerson’s brilliance taught me to slow down
and listen differently. Their presence made this work necessary.

Motherhood isn’t a sideline to my mission. It is the mission.

And this is the result of radical, relentless love.

We are returning not just to a storefront—but to a dream made flesh. At Montague Plaza,
Liberation Station will stand as a sanctuary for Black children and their families. A place where
our stories are centered, our children are protected, and our futures are declared sacred.
Because when my son’s ask where the books were for kids who looked like them, I decided to
build an answer they could walk into.

And now they do.

Victoria Scott-Miller is the founder of Liberation Station Bookstore, The 40 Acre Institute, and
creator of The Museum Lives in Me®. She is a Village of Wisdom Fellow, Invested Faith Fellow,
and nationally recognized literacy and cultural strategist whose work centers Black Southern
identity. Her leadership has been featured by The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Essence, The
Washington Post, and Good Morning America. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her
husband Duane and their two sons, Langston and Emerson.