…not with a mob, but with a lone and scared person who listens to their heart.
With Love,
Russ
In 1996, something pretty amazing happened in Ann Arbor. Maybe you remember, maybe you don’t. But it basically went something like this.
Seventeen Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, most of them hooded, rallied on the second floor of City Hall. Meanwhile, just outside there were 300 anti-KKK protesters in the street – obviously angry and unhappy to say the least. That’s when one of them spotted a man nearby wearing a Confederate flag shirt, watching the protest. He was not a member of the Klan, though he had an SS tattoo as well. The protesters turned their anger on him and rushed him. Among those protesters was an 18 year old high school girl named Keshia Thomas.
That’s when things went from violent to a kind of heroism I’ve never seen before.
The man who was a racist was running from the protesters
The mob caught up to him, surrounded him, and proceeded to kick him and beat him.That’s when Keshia had enough.
She covered his body with her own, screaming for the mob to stop the violence. They listened and, in tears, she held the racist man in her arms. The man that hated her for what she looked like, and nothing else.
Days after this took place, when asked about her actions, Keshia said, “I knew what it was like to be hurt. The many times that that happened, I wish someone would have stood up for me. Nobody deserves to be hurt, especially not for an idea.”
Keshia never heard from the man after that day, but she said months later, someone walked up to her in a coffee shop and said thanks. When she asked why, he said the man she saved was his father.
(Source: Forever Awezome)
Russ Towne's A Grateful Man 
Very cool!
I agree. I believe that this woman saved more than this man’s life that day.
I’d never heard that story. It’s amazing!
Amazing indeed. I’m glad that it was new for you. Thank you for letting me know, Diana.
Russ
I have heard this story before but not the full depth of it. It is one thing to be kind to a stranger, it is quite another leap to be so kind to someone who, is by all intents and purposes, the enemy.
Quite inspirational.
It sure is. I also loved reading that the son of the man she saved found and thanked her. The chain of bigotry in that family tree appears to have broken–perhaps even by the action of the woman who saved his father.
Russ
What a great story
I agree! Thank you for your comment, Joanne.
Russ
What an amazing story ~ I’d never heard it before. Thank you for sharing it.
I’m glad it resonated with you, too, Misifusa. Thank you for letting me know.
Russ
Some people are just too good for this earth!! xxxxxxxxxx
I hope Keisha sticks around on this earth for a long time because this planet could sure use all the Keisha’s we can get!
Yes there are not enough angels but she is one!
the obvious right thing to do is not always obvious. Thank you Keisha and russtowne
Hi, David. Thank you for commenting. I can only speak for myself, but I find that when I truly listen to my heart, the answer is typically pretty darned obvious. I may not like the answer, and I may even find it to be inconvenient or downright frightening, but it is usually crystal clear to me.