Revamped: Prolific Black-Owned Bookstore in Missouri Undergoes Modern Makeover by Media Firm
In the heart of Kansas City, the B-REAL Academy (Black Radical Education for Abolition and Liberation) has found a new home at a significant location – the former oldest Black-owned bookstore in the city. After a farewell celebration, Willa's Books and Vinyl, which has been a cultural staple for over 40 years, is undergoing a transformation to become a communal hub and public archive.
The Kansas City Defender, a local Black digital news outlet, is leading the charge, investing in the renovation of Willa's Books and Vinyl. The bookstore's extensive collection, comprising over 20,000 books by Black authors such as Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright, will continue to serve as an essential resource to the Black community in Missouri within the new KC Defender headquarters.
The B-REAL Academy, a 15-week Black education initiative, will be housed in the transformed space. Led by Melissa Ferrer-Civil, director of the B-REAL Academy and the official poet laureate for Kansas City, Missouri, the academy aims to engage the community around Black history, radicalism, and Black education. The B-REAL Academy's focus on histories that are often banned or erased aligns with The Kansas City Defender's mission to produce news, digital tools, and public services for Black people across the Midwest.
The transformed bookstore will not only serve as the new headquarters for The Kansas City Defender but also support its Mutual Aid efforts. Initiatives like free grocery deliveries and clothing drives will find a new home in this community-focused multi-use space.
As Willa Robinson, the founder of Willa's Books and Vinyl, retires at the age of 84, she can take comfort in knowing that her legacy continues. Nina Kerrs, a Mutual Aid organiser with The Kansas City Defender, is involved in maintaining the legacy of Willa's Books and Vinyl. The B-REAL Academy will use this space to support Black youth literacy and counteract the erasure of Black education and Black books amid widespread book bans and cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in Missouri schools.
This initiative represents an effort to preserve and promote Black stories and teachings in Missouri by reimagining the educational landscape for Kansas City's Black community through grassroots radical education and access to cultural resources. The Defender is also planning renovations supported by fundraising to sustain this mission.
While this specific academy and its location emerged from the legacy of the oldest Black-owned bookstore, there are also broader efforts underway in Kansas City to improve educational outcomes and community engagement in schools, though not directly connected to B-REAL Academy. These efforts underscore the city's commitment to fostering a vibrant and inclusive educational environment for all its residents.
- The transformed Willa's Books and Vinyl, now part of The Kansas City Defender headquarters, will not only serve as a public archive and communal hub but also as a home for the B-REAL Academy, a 15-week Black education initiative that aims to engage the community around Black history, radicalism, and Black education.
- Maintaining the legacy of Willa's Books and Vinyl, Nina Kerrs, a Mutual Aid organizer with The Kansas City Defender, ensures that the new space will support Black youth literacy and counteract the erasure of Black education and Black books amid widespread book bans and cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in Missouri schools.
