An unlikely outcome of Starbucks: Kindred spirits and a social media campaign [View all]

[gollygee]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/starbucks-video-bias-training-melissa-depino-michelle-saahene-from-privilege-to-progress-20180525.html

Michelle Saahene may not be visible on the now famous Starbucks video — viewed more than 11 million times on Twitter alone — but her voice is quite clear:

“They didn’t do anything,” the 31-year-old says as police lead Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson away in handcuffs at 18th and Spruce. “He asked to use the bathroom, and the woman said it was for paying customers only. They didn’t do anything.”

Melissa DePino, 50, the Philadelphia novelist who posted the video, saw how Saahene was the first person to speak up in Starbucks that day. She saw how the police didn’t pay attention to the black woman, but how, eventually, nobody could ignore a video posted by a white person. But the women had both been witness to something traumatic, so DePino asked a mutual acquaintance if she could reach out to the brave woman.

A couple days later, they met at a restaurant not far from Starbucks, and they talked about what they could do.

(more at link)