Media Startup Transforms One Of Missouri’s Oldest Black-Owned Bookstores
Willa’s Books and Vinyl, one of the oldest-operating Black-owned bookstores in Missouri, is about to get a makeover thanks to The Kansas City Defender. The bookstore will transform into a public archive and the new headquarters of KC Defender, a nonprofit digital startup that produces news, digital tools, and public services for Black people across the Midwest.
Willa’s struggled with financial troubles, asking for help from supporters across Kansas City so it could remain open. Nina Kerrs, a Mutual Aid organizer with The Kansas City Defender and other team members, started work in Spring 2024 to maintain the bookstore’s legacy, which includes cataloging more than 20,000 books and paying the store’s rent.
KC Defender investing in Willa’s store
A farewell celebration was held at the bookstore to mark the store’s new transformation and to celebrate the retirement of its founder, Willa Robinson, 84, who has run the store for over 40 years, as reported by Startland News.
“I’m not ready to retire, but it’s time for me to retire,” Robinson said. “All of these books, all this music, all this art, is dedicated to you all.”
Her collection will continue to serve as an essential resource to the Black community in Missouri within the new KC Defender headquarters, according to Kerrs. “Until people walk into this space and see what the books are, the first editions and the deep history, they won’t understand. But this place matters,” she says.
Willa’s transformation
The bookstore will be transformed into a community-focused multi-use space serving as the home for The KC Defender’s B-REAL Academy, a 15-week Black education initiative. The program will highlight histories that are often banned or erased, according to Melissa Ferrer-Civil, director of the academy and the official poet laureate for Kansas City, Missouri.
“It’s Black radical education for abolition and liberation,” she said. The space will also support the Defender’s Mutual Aid efforts, which include initiatives such as free grocery deliveries and clothing drives.
Image: Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
