The Shrine of the Black Madonna Bookstore and Cultural Center in Detroit, Mich., which closed in 2014, may reopen next summer, according to Detour Detroit.Kandia Milton, a project coordinator and minister at the Shrine of the Black Madonna #1 of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church, said, "We are in the process of working with architects to do a complete renovation of the facility. [It will be] less of a retail space and more of a place where the community can convene around cultural issues. Yes, we will still sell books and art, but the focus will be on community engagement."
Founded in 1970, the store sold books, clothing, art, and other cultural artifacts. It also hosted events, including book signings and lectures by African American scholars and writers.
For years, the store was self-sustaining and had been "an access point for African Americans to become more aware of our history, not just our slave history, but our total history and its significance, its impact on the world," Milton said.
"We sold books by authors who couldn't get into the major stores. The writers were those who wrote about issues that were important to our people. We were a self-sustaining entity. The church didn't have to support the store. It was really a holistic, one-stop shop for African culture."
The store began to have problems when it became easy to buy books and African art online, Milton observed.
There are Shrine of the Black Madonna bookstores in Atlanta and Houston.