In Ferguson, Missouri, on West Flores and Avenue, you'll find a McDonald's restaurant.

It's like any other McDonald's you'd spot across the country.

There's a big red building, golden arches, and an American flag.

When Marsha Chatlin began researching her book on McDonald's in Black America,

she made a point to visit this one.

One of the first things I saw was a flyer announcing the winner of a McDonald's worker scholarship.

This restaurant is a pillar in the community.

It sponsors a mentoring program and works with boys and girls clubs, the local public library,

youth sports programs, and the zoo.

It's a place where people gather.

In communities like Ferguson, where you have a lot of poor residents, sometimes

McDonald's is where people use the internet.

So it's the Wi-Fi.

It's where you can get the air conditioning.

And in 2014, this McDonald's was also in the eye of the storm,

when Ferguson erupted in protests over the shooting of Michael Brown.

There was growing outrage tonight after an unarmed African-American teenager

was shot and killed by police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri.

If you think about all of the international activist communities that showed up at Ferguson,

Missouri, they come to America and the place that is open and lively is the McDonald's.

People took refuge in that McDonald's from the unrest surrounding them,

fires, gunshots, rubber bullets, and tear gas.

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