Guide to Kulchur in Cleveland, Ohio, closed this week. A statement posted on the store's website said that for the past three years, the business "has been transitioning from a sole proprietorship independent bookstore to a board-led nonprofit. In the past year, Guide to Kulchur, Inc., has applied for 501c3 status, grant funding, fiscal sponsorship, and taken other steps to establish itself as a nonprofit. In early 2019 the Board of Directors discovered the loss of thousands of dollars, both privately fundraised and granted."
The board announced that the following steps were being taken: R.A. Washington has been dismissed as executive director as of March 5; Guide to Kulchur, Inc. has provided an accounting of its finances to impacted partners as a gesture of accountability; and Guide to Kulchur, Inc. has initiated the process of legally dissolving as a nonprofit and is no longer in operation as of March 5.
The board also said it "feels strongly about accountability and acknowledges that transparency is a core element of any accountability process. In light of the above mentioned activities the board of directors is consulting with legal counsel about releasing additional details, which may be released at a later time."
Cleveland Scene reported that Washington published a Facebook post in response: "While not discussing the recent alleged missing funds, he said that he and two others had personally taken out loans to finance the purchase of printing equipment when the store moved from W. 65th Street to Detroit and W. 59th (before its move, in 2017, to Lorain.) He said that his name continues to be slandered, but admitted to making mistakes."