Photo: Courtesy Subject /Illustration: Grey Thornberry

"Just before 10 p.m. on May 29, Dionte' Johnson was awakened by the phone call no business owner wants to get. It was his security company, informing him that someone had broken into his store. With protests just a few blocks from Sole Classics, his Columbus, Ohio sneaker shop, Johnson, formerly a pro football player, had been expecting the worst. And it had happened. A large glass window had been smashed, the merchandise looted. 

"Somehow, Johnson was able to put aside his anger to send a positive message to his community. After boarding up the store, he spray-painted a note on the plywood. "This is on us," he wrote. "For generations, we have called the youth stupid, taken funding from their programs, kicked them out of places, and ignored them. What would you expect? Don't lock your doors tighter, open your hearts wider. Spread love. SC." This is a beutiful story.

Article: His Store Was Looted, Yet He Turned It Into Something Positive