Understanding or misunderstanding?

After "Happy September 11" dustup, Petrol Station owner receives tolerance award

Tolerance, Americanism, Patriotism
Logo via T.A.P./Facebook
TAP is presenting Petrol Station owner Ben Fullelove a tolerance award, citingthe way he handled the situation after an employee scribbled an offensive doodleon a customer's to-go box.
Photo via Beer Utopia
The drawing that prompted the whole debacle
Photo via Channel 13/ABC
TAP promotes all things American
Photo via T.A.P./Facebook

For one organization, Petrol Station owner Ben Fullelove serves as a bastion of understanding.

TAP America is a non-profit dedicated to promoting tolerance, patriotism and exercise in America. According to the group's website, "The tenets of TAP encourage people to be physically active, embrace equality and support the American economy by purchasing products made in America."

We learned that TAP is granting its first ever tolerance award to Fullelove. This comes after the owner fired not one but two employees over the insensitive, malicious "Happy September 11th" message on a styrofoam to-go box prank.

CultureMap spoke with Richard Tso, TAP America's executive director, about what prompted the award:

Right now we're seeing that our country is very divisive, in all pockets. We are a non-political organization really working to try to break down those barriers. We are trying to make patriotism more of an inclusive term, not just held by one group. So we found that, in the event that occurred at Petrol Station, the immediate actions that were taken by the staff there to employ sensitivity training was a good act of recognizing a need for change within an organization and acting quickly. Because they had gained national attention from the incident - that's how we found out about it - and we said, 'Wait a minute, this is great!' So we reached out to Petrol Station, and they were pleased with being awarded the honor."

Despite the award, it still seems to me that Fullelove's move is just intolerance of intolerance. And, as much as we hate to add fuel to the fire, TAP must not have seen the owner use the R-word in an apology statement earlier this week.

From now on, let's focus on the coffee beans and the micro brews.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”