Black Love & Liberation: Another Implausible COINTELPRO Target
Black liberation is unstoppable; the war is not over.
During Juneteenth weekend in 2023, I had the pleasure of making images during the grand opening of North Carolina’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore, Liberation Station Bookstore.
In mid-April 2024, I was given the incredible honor of making images of the owners of Liberation Station, Victoria Scott-Miller & Duane Miller, during their last days in the bookstore’s downtown Raleigh location. You’ve probably seen the news and heard about why they’ve chosen to close this brick and mortar, but I am here to show and tell you that Black liberation cannot and will not be stopped.
As I’ve told Victoria & many others, I feel that anyone with a Black revolutionary mindset has to make a choice at some point: Give yourself fully to the movement or protect yourself and your family.
In my opinion, either choice is correct. The most important question is: Have you done the work?
And we all know Liberation Station has done more than enough and will continue to do more.
I admire and appreciate my Liberation Station family’s choice.
Did you know Black-owned bookstores were a target during the FBI’s COINTELPRO program from 1956 - 1971, right alongside civil rights activists?
The war is not over.
Digital Photographs & Scan of Polaroid 600 Film
All images made in 2024