We are doing this because we didn’t have it. We are doing this because all people should be able to take pride in their culture and have the information compiled in a central location to do so. The Owner Of The Goddess Metaphysical Store Roxanne Ashley and head Librarian and curator of Lift Every Voice Library was one of the children searching for her history, tirelessly piecing together her lineage, scraping and scrambling to learn how to be an entrepreneur from “the hood”. 
 
“When I was in my early teens I loved to read. Most of the African American books at the local libraries in the city would be out often as they only had a few copies to lend. Then they opened  a Library in the Southfield Suburb. I was awed. At the luxury and the wide array of books, I was immediately resentful though. Where was our library like this. Where was a place I could go that wasn’t 15 miles from home to explore literature, and why in a 3 story building, equipped with an elevator and winding stair case, with hundreds of thousands of books. I can’t find authors who look like me, scholars or essays that tell a story I relate to. It was reduced to a shelf. I felt dejected, and misrepresented, but had no other free public library that would afford me that space. So as an adult, I don’t want people to feel that hopelessness, I’d like them to have a place to go. If I can build it and become who I am from the vision of making it a reality. How many children and young adults visions can become a reality? How many people like me, can I show that if it doesn’t exist, that knowledge can help them create it.” -Roxanne Ashley

The propaganda and myths surrounding black culture, and black lives is that we are separated from our histories. That with the Atlantic Slave Trade we are disadvantaged and have minimal cultural representation. It is available through books, through art, and ancestry. It is available at The Lift Every Voice Library for all to recognize, learn, and honor the many contributions of the past, the current contributions of the present, and forging a better future by lifting the layers of systemic oppression, education gaps, and being the change we want to see. 
 

The Books, Programs, and community village will bring change to our city. It will raise children of hope, and reinstall pride in those who may have never known they have an incomparable amount, to be proud of. Our Library and Programs are completely free to the public and communities we serve. We are here to show that affluence and prestige can and will exist in our neighborhoods. We are going to make sure of it.