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Jabee Williams didn’t wake up on Tuesday expecting to see broken glass and $200 missing from the register at his restaurant Eastside Pizza House. Yet an event that caused pain to a beloved Black business owner turned into a teachable moment.
The northeast Oklahoma City activist, entrepreneur and rapper took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his feelings. More importantly, he offered grace and the opportunity at redemption for the pizza house perpetrator.
“I woke up and saw this. I was pissed,” Williams tweeted with an image of his damaged storefront.
Saying he felt a “broken trust,” the Black business owner added that he refuses to harden his heart against his own community.
Teaming up with other community leaders, Williams has organized and led community festivals, concerts, a peace summit and more in an effort to reduce community violence and revitalize the neglected, majority-Black neighborhoods of northeast OKC.
Some X users commented on Jabee’s post saying that while they understand crime is often due to a lack of resources, it hurts to see people harm their own community.
A message of grace from Black business owner
Jabee Williams had a message for the potential youngsters who broke into Eastside Pizza.
“If anyone knows the kids who did this, let ’em know I got a job for ’em if they need more than the $200 they got last night. It’s all love. Closed today. Open tomorrow,” Williams said.
To support Eastside Pizza and Black business owner Jabee Williams, visit their website at https://eastsidepizzahouse.com/.