The Good and Helpful Folks in Ferguson, Missouri Not Making the Headlines

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

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Here are some positive things going on in Ferguson that are not making headlines...http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/good-people-uniting-ferguson/

It’s not all chaos and violence in Ferguson. There are scores of good people hitting the streets to help repair and rebuild after Monday’s riots… and NFL Hall of Fame athlete Aeneas Williams is one.He told TMZ Hollywood Sports that people from all walks of life, all races, all religions were joining him as he helped board up windows and clean up the small business owners who were hit.
Elsewhere, reporter Ryan Reilly took these photos of crews out at the crack of dawn cleaning the streets and sidewalks:
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Bakery owner gets help from others through donations...http://www.buzzfeed.com/sapna/ferguson-woman-gets-more-than-170000-in-donations-to-rebuild

As donations to Natalie’s Cakes & More approach $200,000, Dubose isn’t sure what she will do with all the extra money yet. During our phone interview, she apologized for how often she said she was grateful.

“After we get through this Thanksgiving holiday and I get a handle on the orders coming in, I’ll be able to think what will be the next move,” she said. “I just don’t know. I’m still in awe over the support that’s coming in. I haven’t had time to think that far…I’m so emotional, I’ve been crying throughout the day, every time a customer came in.”

Beyond that, Dubose has hope in Ferguson and its recovery, as the town’s community works to heal from a shooting that has shaken the nation.

“Ferguson will be able to get through this,” she said. “Everybody that’s come through this store, the people of Ferguson, all the people not from Ferguson, everybody has Ferguson in their prayers, everybody has this country in their prayers.”

“We will pull through this for sure.”
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Good, but not as exciting as protesting and rioting, thus, not as newsworthy...
 

I guess the news organizations think we only want to hear about the violence and hatred. But maybe if they began to highlight these good folks, maybe it would be like tossing a stone in a pond and the ripples of kindness would spread. Thanks for sharing about these good people. I had no idea they were doing the great things mentioned.
 
The Worst Thanksgiving and the Best Thanksgiving in Ferguson, Mo.

A little bit about some peace and hopeful thoughts of the residents of Ferguson...http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...686-11e4-a755-e32227229e7b_story.html?hpid=z4


FERGUSON, Mo. — It was the worst of Thanksgivings, yet it was the best of Thanksgivings, too.All around this partially roadblocked, burned, broken and now internationally symbolic suburb, residents were sifting through the sad and coming up with the good.

“This has been one of the most horrible Thanksgivings ever, but that’s what makes it one of the best Thanksgivings ever,” said Terri Williams, finishing a meal in the fellowship hall of Wellspring Church, where turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and pecan pie were served.

“It puts in perspective how much we do have to be thankful for,” in spite of the tribulations of this week and the upheaval of the nearly four months since Michael Brown was shot by officer Darren Wilson.

Williams was thankful for her twins, Lena and Layla, 6, and the successful barbershop, Total Image, that she and her husband, Christopher, have worked so hard to build.

Others gave thanks for how the community seems to be uniting to begin the rebuilding.

“At the end of the day, God loves Michael Brown. God loves Darren Wilson,” Christopher Williams said.
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Debby said:
I guess we'd have to come up with more topics wouldn't we? Because how many times can you say, 'I think those folks are wonderful...'?
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Certainly not as many times as we like to say "Those people are horrible".. I agree, there's really no debate when people do good things. What's the counter debate?
 
Below are some steps the President is going to take to try to help the situation in Ferguson......taken from his speech in Chicago recently.

"So as part of that, I’ve instructed Attorney General Eric Holder not just to investigate what happened in Ferguson, but also identify specific steps we can take together to set up a series of regional meetings focused on building trust in our communities. And next week, we’ll bring together state and local officials, and law enforcement, and community leaders and faith leaders to start identifying very specific steps that we can take to make sure that law enforcement is fair and is being applied equally to every person in this country.

And we know certain things work. We know that if we train police properly, that that improves policing and makes people feel that the system is fair. We know that when we have a police force that is representative of the communities it's serving that makes a difference. (Applause.) And we know that when there’s clear accountability and transparency when something happens that makes a difference. So there are specific things we can do, and the key now is for us to lift up the best practices and work, city by city, state by state, county by county, all across this country, because the problem is not just a Ferguson problem, it is an American problem. And we've got to make sure that we are actually bringing about change.

The bottom line is, nothing of significance, nothing of benefit results from destructive acts. I've never seen a civil rights law, or a health care bill, or an immigration bill result because a car got burned. It happened because people vote. It happened because people mobilize. It happened because people organize. It happens because people look at what are the best policies to solve the problem. That's how you actually move something forward." (Applause.)
 
Nationwide Support for Tiny Ferguson Library

Good things that people are doing for this small library in the Ferguson community, and what the library gives back...http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way...tpouring-of-support-for-tiny-ferguson-library

With the donations this week, Bonner plans to purchase more "healing kits" for children to check out. The kits include books about dealing with traumatic events and a stuffed animal that they can keep.The level of support the library has seen this week can buy even more than healing kits.

"It means we can do a whole lot more programming that's focused on the community, [and] long overdue updates to the library. We have infrastructure needs that should have been taken care of 10 years ago. But what I really hope I can do is to get a full-time children's or programming librarian," Bonner says.

"No matter how much I work," he says, "it's not anywhere what a dedicated person who thinks about community all the time can do."
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I hadn't really given this much thought about the library, but I agree with that sentiment, for me the library and books are a place of solace and joy. It was books that saved me, of course it was also the kindness of strangers at the other end of those books as well.

My first most important readings started with a woman that reached out to me, she saw something special in me, from then, my spirit lifted and she used to bring books for me to read and my love for books grew. I don't even remember the name of the book, just that it was about a young girl and her life with her family and some sort of struggles. I was about 11 when she gave me the book. There was always some educator of sorts that seemed to know what I needed in times of darkness; for them, I am and always grateful. When I started working as a child librarian, during our community events, nothing brought me more joy than when I was able to lift that child's spirit whom would be sitting off to the side seemingly so afraid to interact or that none of the other kids were engaging. To see such a child's eyes brighten up, is pure joy. I loved that job, I never even connected it to my past in the way, I was just reminded reading that sign.
 
And here all this time I'm thinking if you want to find a good cop you had to watch something like Blue Bloods.
 
I saw over the summer a large number of arrests were not from Ferguson. It's probably a similar number or percentage now because local residents have too much at stake. Too many hitch a ride on a popular emotional issue for their own ends. I think most Ferguson residents did or protest along the lines of the clean up or free hug groups. I also wonder how many outsiders are paid or simply have nothing else to do. Never the less to see hugs and clean up without incident is inspiring.
 

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