As protesters across the nation marched for justice for George Floyd, individual protests ranged from peaceful to chaotic, even in short periods of time. While some law enforcement, like a Flint, Michigan-area sheriff, heard out protesters and marched with them, there have been repeated reports of police adding to the chaos and escalating situations with protesters and bystanders. Journalists also report being targeted by police while covering protests. Mainstream media gives a lot of attention to damaged property, but after one Washington, D.C. restaurant and tea house, Teaism, was damaged, co-owner Michelle Brown sent a tweet to the masses. She wrote: “Before anyone puts a single word in our mouths. Black lives matter.”
In an interview with Washingtonian, Brown was similarly succinct, saying: “It doesn’t matter how I feel. It’s not about me.” She continued: “There are 100,000 people dead. This guy had a policeman sit on his neck for nine minutes. These are horrible things that are happening that we’re going through in this country.”
Here is that tweet, which quickly went viral.
“People are dying in this country due to police brutality and a global pandemic,” Lela Singh, who worked with Brown to write the tweet above, and who manages the Penn Quarter location of Teaism, told Eater.
In speaking to The Washington Post about the damaged restaurant, Brown said it seems “pretty minor” in the scheme of current events. Her Penn Quarter restaurant location is close to the White House, and as she initially found out around midnight, it was on fire. According to the Post, Brown would later find that a 21-year-old tea set and artwork were lost in the fire.
“We have seen 100,000 people die,” Brown added. “I think the protests are great, and I think they are warranted.” Singh said similarly to Eater, adding: “We can’t say “I condone the tactics’ or ‘I don’t condone these tactics. It’s not our place.”
In light of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Teaism actually closed its three locations in D.C. entirely, not even opting to do take-out. “My people have to ride the Metro,” Brown’s business partner, Linda Neumann, told the Washingtonian about this decision. She continued: “And my people have to go home to their multigenerational families. And their life matters just as much as your life matters.” The owners still plan to open one of the three locations for carry-out service this week; it’s not the same location that was impacted by protests.
Neumann added to the Washingtonian: “We’re thankful that nobody was hurt and no lives were lost.”