Well, yes, of course she is, but who knew she also had a touch of Boudicca in her soul?
Mary Engelbreit is an illustrator who has built an empire on her whimsical drawings. In all my born days, I never thought I'd see a dKos diary about her, much less multiple rec list diaries. But Mary is from St. Louis and apparently has a heart.
Mary released one of her drawings this week with proceeds earmarked for Michael Brown's family. And then she was dragged down the rabbit hole. Today on the Cityscape program, a regular arts feature on St. Louis Public Radio, Mary was interviewed about the experience. As a fan, I found the segment very satisfying. She talks about the motivation behind the drawing and her experience with racism. If you've followed her story this week, I'd urge you to hear it in her own words.
If you missed it all, I have a brief summary with links on the other side of the orange fleur.
Early this week, Mary released an image on Facebook that she'd drawn in response to Michael Brown's killing. She announced that it would be available in her online shop in a few days and that the proceeds would go to Michael Brown's family. Her Facebook page exploded. A certain portion of her followers did not appreciate the gesture. It got ugly. Very ugly.
The very next day, she announced that the print was available. (I like to think she fast-tracked it because of the hubbub. Take that!) She warned followers that bigoted comments would be deleted. Shortly after, that post was removed as "offensive." She reposted.
I'm assuming that the post was taken down because of a critical amount of complaints from bigots who don't like to be called bigots. Facebook eventually restored the post and assured Mary that it wouldn't happen again.
Today on the Cityscape program, she revealed that they've raised $15,000 so far which is going to the official memorial fund run by Michael's mother's employer. Yesterday, the amount was $10,000 so obviously, the print has been well-received.