Seriously heartwarming!

K/R

Best news today. Thank you to all.

i see a pizza in your future.

Every penny I have ever made was used to get my business up and running and 18 hour work days are routine.

If my business was destroyed, not only would a building be destroyed, but the lives of the workers I employ would be affected as well.

So when I speak of violence against a business owner who had nothing to do with this, that's where I am coming from.

Their taxes put Wilson on the street to murder that man and others.

Your business receipts pay for those cops to shoot kids, unarmed people, and jail black folks by the millions for the same crimes white people walk away from. It pays for people to live, but living under oppression isn't living. At best it is servitude, at it's worst is slavery.

You are fooling yourself if you think you have nothing to do with this. We all have everything to do with this. We don't have to be the shooter...

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Edmund Burke

Should we stop paying taxes?

It's ok to vandalize a business in Ferguson because they gave in to IRS threats?

How do I rid myself of this guilt and culpability for what happened?

asks "Oh, my, what do we do?" Business owners even form whole associations because of it. I can't help but think, with all the millions these ass clowns have, if they would just take the money from the one or two hours they waste on this and pool it, they could build a nice shelter. Or even provide decent jobs so people don't have to live on piss-poor wages.

But since you asked, my answer, assuming your question was rhetorical...tell that rhetorical person to stop being a fucking racist asshole, or stop allowing them to live a peaceful and secure life if they continue to deny it to others.

Because, you see, the problem is the racist asshole and those who support them. No one can MAKE them change, they have to do that themselves. Just ask most any terrorist we waterboarded or otherwise tortured with the help of our hired psychologist from Spokane. Most didn't change. It has to come from inside.

Until then, as the victim or someone from outside, all you can do is make yourself stronger and work together to try and keep them from hurting you. Maybe organize your own police to police your area to keep you safe from them - a whole squad of armed video camera-wielding police... lol

There are many things you can do if you want to help create an environment where they may be more likely to change. One way - Alinsky said first you have to disorganize them. That's what the street protest can do. Maybe a few things to help them begin to figure out what life is like when you have to look over your shoulder or wonder if every person you meet today is going to screw you just because of how you look.

What does one do about how they feel? "guilt" you say? Guilt is a made up feeling one chooses to feel. Feel any way you like, I don't care, until it impacts me, so maybe go ask a preacher. Sounds like something they would be interested in. I'm not.

That's some really crazy logic there in your post. That woman is in no way responsible for what happened to Michael Brown.

insist the cops stop treating black folk as if their skin color makes them worthy of more jail and more death.

If all the business owners in town decided they didn't like the way this was being handled they could tell the city to stand down - even remove a few. This is a Democracy, and people have a FUCKING DUTY to their neighbors, to respect them and treat them like human beings.

But I get the feeling they think all this is ok, will mouth a few condolences, and ignore what they are paying to achieve. So now they aren't ignoring it, but choose to whine about it instead of fixing, or even acknowledging, a problem

When they fail to act they are complicit. If that puts me in opposition to them, and you, that's just fine by me.

This is the second completely bizarre point of view I have read on DU in the last 30 minutes.

you know nothing about this woman, but the fact that she owns a business is enough for you to assume she doesn't care about less fortunate people or the community. Classy.

was weak, I think. He gave too little acknowledgment to the power of cooperation among the working folk, and turned to killing, the thing he could do by himself. In that regard I see him as just as much a failure as our more evil capitalists.

I knew I should have gone with Tim McVeigh.

That's batshit craziness on display.

that this lady will be able to rebuild.

I see the original goal was $20k. This must just knock her socks off!

The good people would be willing to help them all out, if no one else will.

So I don't have much sympathy. People like this lady, though, deserve all the help she can get.

Mrs. Dubose, btw, has now received $241,000 in donations. There are some *truly* generous people out there.

... She's almost at $200,000 now. So amazing! She built that bakery from scratch and she was going to have to give up and move on. I am so happy for her.

Here's a link to the donation page:

http://www.gofundme.com/NataliesCakesnMore

TYY

Thank you for sharing this here today.

Through Windbag Limbaugh show. He apparently sent listeners to donation site in order to claim he 'cares'

maybe they'll learn how good it feels to help someone and make a habit of it!

Go team!

Last edited Thu Nov 27, 2014, 09:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Who knows?

I'm just glad this lady got some help.

I am glad the community is rallying around for her though. They will show us which people who own businesses really were good community people and which weren't.

The burning, looting and other criminal activity has been outside agitators and people that the original Ferguson protesters don't even know.

I changed the headline of my OP to 'vandalized' instead of 'burned' since I'm not sure if her place was one of the ones that burned the other night. I know it was vandalized, windows broken and looted. She built the business from the ground up and was going to lose her bakery. I'm so happy that the nation has rallied around her.

This link is to the donation page, which gives much more information about who she is and how she's doing. http://www.gofundme.com/NataliesCakesnMore

TYY

I understand he couldn't be there all night. I also understand that there was in fact outside agitators. I am pretty sure the people in the neighborhood also know who in Ferguson is good to them and who isn't.

Saying that is ridiculous.

And it's also sadly amusing considering how many DU'ers quote Martin Luther King about rioting and have also gone out of their way to rationalize that behavior.

That said, most people do want to get along and help one another.

Thank You for this thread. I hope the business owners of the area can get back on their feet.

They had a pic of Natalie crying because those thugs burned down her store.....

my response:

Hey Myranda honey - did you hear that people all over the country donated money to her and her store is opened once again? Because that's what people who care about other people do instead of posting insulting and divisive comments on their facebook page;
http://www.gofundme.com/NataliesCakesnMore
So enjoy your hate filled little world.

Then I de-friended her.

aaargh!
This Myranda is such a devout Christian. Ya, right!!

Glad to see others helping those who have suffered hardship during these stressing times.

She deserves help too and I would be happy to donate.

...but I sure hope so. I felt really bad for beauty parlor lady.

TYY

Here's a story about the bakery, with stories of all the support from people coming in to the store to help:

St. Louis Post Dispatch article

Posted to Facebook.

These people don't deserve to have their business destroyed like this. Neither does their community.

Build up instead of destroying.

And I'm thankful that I have the money to donate. I am blessed.

according to one interview she gave. Good for her - she is getting her business up and running once more. She is paying it forward by hiring.

What happened in Ferguson, with all the violence on BOTH sides(yes, the police did some, too!), the rioting, the looting, etc., that was going on, even as many other demonstrators tried to keep things peaceful.....was and is undoubtedly tragic, especially as a bad cop walks free(for now, at least).

But there are some really decent and kind people out there who stepped up and helped this lady rebuild her business, and to be truthful, I have no doubt in my mind that at least some of that money came from folks in and around the local St. Louis area, including the city of Ferguson itself, as well as across the country.

She's now at $256,767 in just 3 days. She's going to be able to reestablish and grow her original bakery business while adding an online retail presence and creating jobs in the process.

I love this story. She's actually been encouraging people to donate money and help to the other businesses in Ferguson that were damaged during the recent riots. I think people continue to donate to her bakery because they want to see her succeed in a big way.

I'm so happy for her. I feel confident that she'll use her good fortune and financial windfall (in the face of disaster) to make a positive impact on Ferguson while becoming somewhat of a small business entrepreneurial leader in her community.

#SolidarityWithFerguson

Black. Lives. Matter.

TYY