Shrine of the Black Madonna Culture Center and Bookstore in Detroit, MI
The Detroit Shrine of the Black Madonna Culture Center and bookstore is located close to the city's cultural district and currently houses the largest selection of African and African-American books in the Michigan state. You can choose from over 15,000 titles that represent everything African you can possibly think of. In addition to the extensive range of books, the bookstore also sells a line of authentic African jewelry plus a number of African inspired clothing and music options.
Attached to the bookstore is the Shrine of the Black Madonna Culture Center that houses a top quality art gallery with authentic African art and ritualistic artifacts, many of which have previously been used in real African ceremonies and rituals. The center also contains the very informative and heart wrenching Black Holocaust Museum which tells the story of black slavery in the United States using over 100 original documents and objects.
The Culture Center holds regular book signings by prominent African-American authors and often these authors will give lectures and presentations about topics they feel strongly about with regards to Africa and the world. You might also find workshops being run that aim to teach the learnings of Africa so for example you might learn the art of African head wrapping while browsing for a book!
Both the Shrine of the Black Madonna culture center and the bookstore are open Monday to Thursday from 11am to 6pm and on Friday and Saturday from 11am until 7pm however tours of the museum have to be booked in advance so that members of staff are available to help.
