Selfless Act
Ok, so this is kinda dope! We saw the headlines and watched the video. Two black men were removed from Starbucks for simply sitting inside waiting for an associate to arrive. They were not hostile, they were not bothering anyone, they simply came inside the Starbucks and sat down without ordering anything – like many of us have done. Today, they settled with the city of Philadelphia. They will receive $1.00 each and received a promise from city officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs.
On April 12th, as the world saw the wrongful arrest of these two men, it caused a fury across the country and revived the conversation that we have been having for decades about racial profiling. We also watched two young men who held their composure, even though they were treated unfairly and were being judged only because they were black.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson wanted something positive to come from the shameful incident. Donte Robinson stated,
“We thought long and hard about it and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see. It’s not a right-now thing that’s good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time.”
Remember, this was an opportunity for these two men to gain financially if they wanted to. They could have taken a settlement, and went on to live their lives. Instead, they realized this was an opportunity to do something good and make this bigger than themselves. This was definitely a selfless gesture.
The good news is that their arrest records have been expunged, and the city of Philadelphia will have a brand new entrepreneurship program for public high-school students.
Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion
