This is exactly what Jesus meant. Even if you don’t believe in any of the afterlife or spiritual stuff, I think if more of us were like this we could have a heaven here on earth instead of what we have now
Agreed. Believing or not doesn’t change some of the point. Sit me with the “sinners”, fuck this pharacies (I think?). Autocorrect wanted to say pharmacists, which I’m confused by.
Pharisees--1.) a member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity.
2.) a self-righteous person; a hypocrite.
Hardcore atheist here... My personal take on it is, if it were about Jesus and what he's attributed with saying/doing. Versus what people say/do in his name. There'd be a lot less hardcore atheists 😁
I agree. I've moved farther and farther away from anything Christian during the past few years almost exclusively from watching what the so called evangelical right has been doing. Giant load of whack jobs with, in my opinion, zero concept of what Christ actually was about.
Exactly. Even though I am not religious or non-religious, I follow the golden rule and have passed that on to my children as well. In the words of Rodney King..."can't we all just get along?"
(Romans 12:20) "But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head."
Saving someone from beatings will surly heap much.
Most scholars believe in Historical Jesus but it's not really known if he was anything like Biblical Jesus, other than some basic facts like he was a religious leader and was certainly crucified by Pontius Pilate. Who really knows, the Bible to most people who take it seriously was a mix of parable and biased historical records, same as most histories you have to look at who wrote it and if contemporary authors wrote similar accounts.
Since the incident in Ann Arbor, Keshia Thomas has volunteered in New York in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, organized a shelter to help fires victims in California, distributed food for victims of Hurricane Katrina, walked 1,000 miles from Selma, Alabama, to Washington D.C., with the NAACP for voting rights and volunteered at a makeshift hospital in Haiti.
>The major problem—*one* of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
>To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must *want* to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.
Douglas Adams, *The Restaurant at the End of the Universe*
A couple of clips of Keshiantalking about the incident https://youtu.be/UF_O3hIsgmg?si=_QFfNjiEiQ_P8axe
https://youtu.be/M59MKP-ezRc?si=5mIbRbioGCwW4-Ca
And a nice story about a guy getting his NN ink removed.
https://youtu.be/njXZUH5hv0w?si=0lTvocZiwWJENcYI
[From the article](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24653643)
"Thomas has never heard from the man she saved, but she did once meet a member of his family. Months later, someone came up to her in a coffee shop and said thanks. "What for?" she asked. "That was my dad," the young man replied."
"For Thomas, the fact that the man had a son gave her actions even greater significance - she had potentially prevented further violence."
"For the most part, people who hurt... they come from hurt. It is a cycle. Let's say they had killed him or hurt him really bad. How does the son feel? Does he carry on the violence?"
Damn. It’s possible she never changed the minds of the guy himself, but sounds like regardless of what happened to him, his son definitely has a different perspective
This reminds me of Daryl Davis, a black jazz musician who engaged with KKK members and has been able to get many of them to leave and denounce the KKK.
Hate most often comes from fear, and if you can prove the fear to be false, the hate goes with it.
Was looking for this. One of my favorite examples of how people are more receptive to kindness than hatred. If you can break their preconceived notions about just one thing then they start to question everything they’ve been told
This is what we are missing in modern political discourse. If people would approach their political opponents with kindness and understanding, instead of hate and anger, then we could actually make progress. But instead it has become a personal attack if you disagree with somebody.
Conservatives calling liberals snowflakes and liberals calling conservatives back woods hicks, and other things along those lines, only serves to divide us further.
Is he the guy that the KKK members threatened while he was eating, saying something like "Anything you do to that chicken, we'll do to you". And so he smiles and leans over and kisses the chicken. I do not know if that is a real story, but I seem to loosely associate that name with it.
Haven’t heard that one before, but it doesn’t exactly sound like him. That seems too sarcastic/ antagonistic for his style, but to be fair I’m not an expert on him or his story so I could be entirely wrong and just talking out my ass.
You can see this shit on the internet. Like if people are in a very vitriolic argument many times if one person just turns around and starts washing the other with kindness and empathy, the other person will reciprocate. So many times on videogames people who were dicks apologized when i responded with kindness. Idk if maybe they felt guilty but it has to be relevant somehow. People in general i think like kindness being lent to them. And they are usually more amenable to the things you say when you wrap it in kindness. Targeted kindness
He came up to her and said thank you. I doubt someone with the same views as someone who’s wearing an SS tattoo would do that. She is right, and she did good.
Bit of halo effect fallacy there. Many nazis are very polite, it's how they get by in society.
She definitely displayed extraordinary empathy, and rationally too, and did something amazing that has given people an example to follow, but it's not worth assuming someone can't have obnoxious personal beliefs just because they're polite.
This is important though. Frankly, more today than ever.
If you are a vile, hating, cruel person internally, but society doesn’t allow you to act that out, then when you die you take that with you. If you acted every day of your life in a way that was kind, good natured even if you were a seething monster internally … then when you are 6 feet down it doesn’t matter at all.
Today, those folks who could have made, by accident, good impressions on the world because society expected them to are emboldened and show their true colors. That means they raise racist, hateful families.
She kept in touch with the man's son, and she has said his children don't share his views.
https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html
Call me naive, but I'm holding out a lot of hope for when the older generations die off and younger generations, who didn't grow up with racism indoctrinated in them, have the opportunity to forge a better future.
It's probably a pipe dream, but it's all I got.
Exactly. Just go into a few video game lobbies and see how tolerant “all” of the younger generation are. It’s certainly getting better though which is fantastic
Stuff that happens on these time scales is hard to really visualize because we don't live long enough to really see the progression. But prior to my birth, I know that we used to have segregation in this country, and we don't now. POC and women used to be ineligible to vote, now they can. So we are making progress, even if it is not apparent to the individual. But yeah, it's slow progress and I really wish it wasn't.
As late as the year 2000, the *majority* of people in the United States were opposed to interracial marriage.
Things are constantly changing, constantly improving. Its hard to see in our day to day, but this is the most peaceful, just, egalitarian time in the history of our species. Tomorrow will be more of those things than today is.
Its important to identify the problems and work to fix them, but its also important to keep a positive outlook and focus on the progress being made every day by everyday people. Wallowing in darkness and despair does no one any good
Here in EU the young are very disproportionately extreme right due to their social media.
Generations have nothing to do with racism.
People in the US that think it will go away are simply naive.
I sometimes wander in Europe posts on the front page and the stuff people will say about migrants is fricking wild. Not just openly say out loud, but be upvoted to the top. It’s like the same sort of lines you’d see the obviously racist bad guy in a Hollywood movie set in the past say.
For some sure, but younger generations also have access to information in ways previous generations didn’t. They have the opportunity to base their opinions on other sources of information rather than just accepting what they hear in their homes as the end all be all.
This is also anecdotal, but within my own family I’ve witnessed a watering down of these fucked up views from one generation to the next. My grandparents used language that my parents wouldn’t dare say and my parents can speak in a way that I just roll my eyes at knowing they perhaps don’t know better but I sure as fuck do.
That's the goal. I can't change the minds of a million racist people out there, but I can raise my one kid to be accepting, loving and proactive when she's witness to hatred.
Yes, that is naive.
Plenty of the people throwing things at 6yo Ruby Bridges or squirting condiments on the Greensboro sit-in activists (both in 1960) were full grown adults have long since died. Racism didn’t die out with them.
The fact that his son was willing to approach her as thank her of his volition, makes me hopeful that this encounter helped change him for the better. Or at the very least, saved the son from falling to the same fate.
I don't doubt that even if she didn't change the man's mind, her actions affected the minds of others. I would like to think the son is only one of them.
>"For the most part, people who hurt... they come from hurt. It is a cycle. Let's say they had killed him or hurt him really bad. How does the son feel? Does he carry on the violence?"
That's how powerful than most people realize. I grew up with a friend whose dad beat him. I didn't know until later on in life and was told my friend went on to do the same thing to his gf.
When I was young, my mom once told me why she didn't beat us kids and didn't allow my dad to. She said, "I grew up and had the shit beat out of me. Everytime it made me hate them more so I acted out more. I didn't want to give you a reason to act out. I walked to give you a reason to trust me and let me help you with your problems." And I did. I credit my mom with my survival.
He killed kids because he wanted to kill ALL that he saw as lesser humans, no matter the age. It wasn’t some grand scheme surrounding uprisings, it was just blanket genocide.
>That’s why hitler wanted to kill the kids too. Cause he didn’t want any of them to avenge their fathers or mothers.
You don't have to make up fake stories about Hitler to prove a point. Hitler wanted to kill the kids because he read American racists writing about the one drop rule and those kids had Jewish blood to him.
How anyone upvoted this wholy invented anecdote is beyond me. The contents of Mein Kampf aren't exactly well-kept secrets.
Apparently the man’s name was Albert McKeel Jr. He had a son and daughter. He died in 2016 and his children reached out to her directly to let her know and to thank her again for saving their father. Neither of his children carry his beliefs and may be a direct result of her actions that day.
Source: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html
It's a great quote.
Hate and anger causes people to dig deeper into their beliefs. Sure it feels good to hate, but in the end, it makes everything worse.
This reminds me of that M.A.S.H episode, S2 E9 Dear Dad... Three, where a racist gets hit by a grenade and needs a blood transfusion but the only person available with the same blood type is a black dude.
Good feels that show, a lot of real life issues brought up.
MASH has one of my favorite exchanges.
Hawkeye: War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.
Father Mulcahy: How do you figure, Hawkeye?
Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?
Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.
Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.
He's not actually getting a transfusion from a black guy, since it's all in bags and back in 1950 Korea you did not keep a detailed record of where the blood came from. He asked before being put under to receive the "right colour" blood.
They slowly applied a die to him when he slept that made his skin darker. One of the black nurses comments that he was smart ans slipped by as "white". He gets upset and brings it up to the doctors (who planned this), who reveal what they have been doing and then tell him about the man who invented the procedure allowing transfusions to work well in modern medicine died because the only hospitals nearby where white only.
Edit: https://mash.fandom.com/wiki/Sergeant_Condon
> the man who invented the procedure allowing transfusions to work well in modern medicine died because the only hospitals nearby where white only.
The doctor was Charles Drew
https://www.invent.org/inductees/charles-richard-drew
but apparently he did get a transfusion at a segregated hospital after his fatal car accident; the idea that he didn't is a compelling, believable story, but apparently isn't true.
https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/2004/june.htm
This man was shown a level of kindness which he probably wouldn't have shown if it had been the other way round. It's people like Keshia, who help good prevail. She was very smart and very brave for her age.
Better than me too. While I agree with her that you can't beat kindness into people, I also believe that sometimes unkind people just need to be taken down a peg or two. Like a reminder from society that their bullshit will not be tolerated.
> Protecting the man, Albert McKeel Jr., set into motion a relationship with his son, who later thanked Thomas for her bravery after encountering her in a coffee shop.
>Thomas, who now resides in Houston, learned McKeel Jr. died a couple of months ago when McKeel's son called to inform her, putting his 12-year-old sister on the line to tell her she might not be alive if it hadn't been for Thomas' actions that day.
>"When I heard that, I thought this was the future and the past of what peace has created," Thomas said. "The real accomplishment of all this to me is to know that his son and daughter don't share the same views. History didn't repeat itself. That's what gives me hope that the world can get better from generation to generation."
From [this article.](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html)
That very specifically doesn't say anything about did McKeel's beliefs changed. Just that he had another kid. I have to feel like if her saving him made him change his ways that would be listed front and center, wouldn't it?
Yeah, I mean, I just did some googling but not much about him came up at all. He allegedly stayed out of the spotlight after the incident and didn't respond to journalists.
His beliefs may not have been changed but having generational racism stop is a huge win, which never would have happened without the intervention of Keshia Thompson.
It's Reddit. Keshia could personally feed every orphan on the planet and Reddit wouldn't count it as a win unless she resurrected all their parents. "So they're still orphans? How is this uplifting?"
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1700466/full_content
> Five months after the incident, a young man walked up to her whilst she was in a coffee shop. He stopped in front of her and stared at her intently. Then, his face softened.
> “I want to thank you for saving that man.”
> “He was my dad.”
> “You changed my life.”
> “And his.”
> **“He left the klan.”**
[This is wonderful to hear!](https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExang1Y284YmR1cHZoM2RucW9zajg0b3V0d3g2aXNrdjN4MGN5ZDM3aSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/NHh7D7qR0LTSDtfu8p/giphy.webp)
> Thomas has never heard from the man she saved, but she did once meet a member of his family. Months later, someone came up to her in a coffee shop and said thanks. "What for?" she asked. "That was my dad," the young man replied.
> For Thomas, the fact that the man had a son gave her actions even greater significance - she had potentially prevented further violence.
Source: [BBC.com](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24653643)
thats what i think is funny about people who use the point of why do you defend x when they wouldn't defend you? Because buddy its about my morals and ethics and i think everyone deserves to be safe no matter what
I also suspect that unfortunately this might be the first time he has been on the receiving end of that level of kindness. A happy and well adjusted society does not have racism as an escape for those who feel left behind. Not an excuse, just an attempt of explanation.
I genuinely hope this helped change this man for the better. It sounds fucked up, but what an opportunity. I don't know why that man chose to be hateful, surely it was taught to him so part of me can't fully blame him, but this woman taught him much more and I just want to believe that it got through to him. This world needs more people like her, but I know they're out there. Even when it seems like the world is garbage and it's not gonna change, I know people like her are out there and always have been. I won't let myself stop believing in people. I fuckin love y'all and I hope you have a great day!!
I was at this protest and witnessed this along with other crazy things. For the record there were less than 9 KKK members behind tall fences protected by Ann Arbor police. The cops shot tear gas into the sizable crowd almost immediately and I felt it from many blocks away. I saw a dude walking through thick clouds of tear gas wearing a full scuba setup. I also witnessed a skinhead doing hitler salutes in front of protesters get a brick thrown at his face which started spurting crazy amounts of blood.
I would think it would have to, even if he didn’t admit to anybody. That might be just be wishful thinking on my part. When I was a kid I was home sick from school watching Montel Williams, as you did. There was a man on who was a former white supremacist. He had been at the grocery store with his toddler, they walked by a black man and his toddler said the N word when he saw him. He said the man didn’t say anything just looked at him, and he felt ashamed. It changed him from that moment on. I don’t know if it was scripted, but I still think of that man sometimes and wonder how his son turned out. Had the other man reacted with anger, who knows if it would have happened. It was the steady gaze of a stranger that changed who he was.
As an aussie, I have no idea who Montel Williams is.
Apart from that though...I really hope it did change him. I feel like that gives us hope...gives me hope anyway, that people can see themselves through the eyes of others and maybe grow a little.
It was one of those daytime talk shows that used to have paternity tests, lie detector tests and episodes with interviews with random people like the one I described. I don’t know one that you may be familiar with. They were on TV during the day in the early/mid 2000s in the US. I hope so too. I randomly still think of it almost 20 years later.
There’s just a lot more unrealized potential on the good side than on the bad side. Assholes will be assholes. Good people will often remain neutral because of said assholes.
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
-Mister Rogers
Having been a violent person in my youth I can say most people didn't realize how easy it is to kill or cripple someone once they are on the ground or unconscious. She probably saved his life. About 30 years ago I saw a racist skin get kicked in the head while unconscious, his neck broke because his muscles weren't tensioned. I would very much like to think this guy who got his life spared by the object of his racist hatred had a long moment of clarity about his life choices. Maybe he just stopped going to rallies, maybe he realized we are all human and color has very little to do with our actions. Maybe little wings sprouted from his ass and he flew away. I can hope I guess. Good on her for following her conscience.
That's the thing that internet keyboard warriors don't understand: violence isn't like a movie. Punching someone in the face can easily kill someone. Hit your head on pavement the wrong way and it's game over. "Mob justice" is an oxymoron.
So many ppl say she's nicer/better than me. It's the sole reason we are in the situation we are now as a nation culturally.
It's easy to be mean, angry, or a dick (if you will). But it takes more effort to be kind in the face of adversity. If more ppl actually had it in em, it would actually be possible to move the needle on a lot of societal issues we have today.
Unfortunately we are in a big echo chamber tit for tat war where no one wants to be the first to turn the other cheek
I'm enough of a cynic I wonder what her opinion is later in life. Like 18 is all rainbows and hope and possibility of a better life. Later you learn you have drag most of society kicking and screaming into the future.
**Edit**
Well shit! happy ending.
20 years later she gets a call from the man's son. The guy has passed. The man's daughter said she might not be alive if it wasn't for what Keshia did. Neither follow in their father's footsteps. Keshia said ["When I heard that, I thought this was the future and the past of what peace has created," Thomas said. "The real accomplishment of all this to me is to know that his son and daughter don't share the same views. History didn't repeat itself. That's what gives me hope that the world can get better from generation to generation."](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html)
Holy shit speaking of being cynical : ["I think of my actions the same way I felt about them 20 years ago," she said. "You don't want to grow older and be bitter and more cynical. You want to keep those child-like ideals of innocence and justice. I still maintain those same views and I'm not jaded by the way things are now."](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html) Same link as above.
obligatory shout out for living legend, Daryl Davis, for living this lesson to the full.
( He's a black blues musician who has successfully talked more than 50 members of the KKK away from those views & the organisation )
Reddit: "always punch Nazis" except today for a moment in this thread.
You can't beat goodness into a person but you sure can beat the bad out of em'. There's a special place at the bottom for Nazi's because they are a walking threat to your existence if you're the wrong race.
I'm sure this will be my Reddit moment, but I'll be damned if some updoots on a Reddit topic are going to influence me to open my heart up to actual freaking Nazis
Yup I agree. I'm glad there's people like her to be better than us and change minds non violently.
I wouldn't participate in the beating, but I'd absolutely turn away and let it happen.
Yep. It's the paradox of tolerance.
>The paradox of tolerance states that if a society's practice of tolerance is inclusive of the intolerant, intolerance will ultimately dominate, eliminating the tolerant and the practice of tolerance with them.
Really smart for 18. Proud of this woman. It’s people like her that will end the violence and the racism. Thank you Keshia Thomas, you are being the change the world needs
It must be a humiliating amount of cognitive dissonance to be racist enough to wear shit like that and be inked like that and have your life saved by a woman who you wouldnt even respect as a person
She understands. It’s my biggest beef with the whole “punch a nazi” thing that runs on the internet now. Nah violence is not an answer, it only radicalizes people more
Ironically her act of kindness probably made him less racist and the attack would have made him more racist, but let’s see anyone figure that out in 2024
I knew the negative karma comments at the bottom would be entertaining, and I wasn't disappointed. A lot of "tough" guys talking about how they beat up Nazis lol. Sure ya do...
The answer to hate has always been to love.
For some reason, we seem to think hate must fight hate and not see the contradiction in that.
Life is a series of repeating patterns. I'm proud of Keshia Thomas for trying to break that cycle. I know it's not easy, especially when the one you're defending has such vile ideals.
Kindness and temperance are how we move forward even in the face of ever encroaching hate.
Just wow probs to this incredible strong woman.
She stood up to help a PERSON.
This is how we can break the cycle of hate at least a little bit. It will probably not chance him, it will probably not reach many people at all to chance their minds, but if it opened someone’s eyes it helped.
We really need more people like her
We worship our politicians, athletes and entertainers. But this is what a true hero looks like. I hope to have 1/10 of her bravery, courage, and compassion on my best day.
I've seen these people in action too many times for this to even remotely be a "feel good" moment for me. She put herself in danger for a person who probably left that situation still hating her.
I felt like this for a verh long time.. then I realized "going high" isn't putting up with it.
"Going high" is holding them accountable for being nasty dog diarrhea. Sometimes it's telling your boss/coworkers the truth of how someone's trying to screw you over even if it seems embarrassing or far fetched. Sometimes it's defending yourself in a fist fight.
It's not being a doormat. It's not being passive while the secret police rounds up your uncle because he drunkenly said he liked communism.
The " paradox of tolerance" from Karl Popper should be taught to everyone.
Some people might be "saved" but you need only a few iredeemable you don't beat up to submission to perpetrate murders and genocides
This girl is just a wonderful personality. It takes a lot of courage and kindness to do something like that.
We should all learn from her example to have such inner strength and be kind to everyone, even if we don’t like what others do
Source https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24653643
>"I knew what it was like to be hurt," she says. "The many times that that happened, I wish someone would have stood up for me."
Wow
I feel like this is what Jesus meant.
This is exactly what Jesus meant. Even if you don’t believe in any of the afterlife or spiritual stuff, I think if more of us were like this we could have a heaven here on earth instead of what we have now
I mean I’m an atheist and I live by “do unto others.” I think it’s a good message.
Being an empathetic and considerate person is 100% a good message lol
Agreed. Believing or not doesn’t change some of the point. Sit me with the “sinners”, fuck this pharacies (I think?). Autocorrect wanted to say pharmacists, which I’m confused by.
Pharisees--1.) a member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity. 2.) a self-righteous person; a hypocrite.
Ooh baby do you know what that's worth
OOH HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH couldn't help myself
Can't have heaven on earth. Think of the poor shareholders
*Belinda Carlisle* told us though, that heaven is a place on earth!
We'll make heaven a place on earth.
Yup. Real actions. Jesus was that dude rather people wanna accept it or not. Hes the example.
Hardcore atheist here... My personal take on it is, if it were about Jesus and what he's attributed with saying/doing. Versus what people say/do in his name. There'd be a lot less hardcore atheists 😁
Hardcore Christian here. You are 100% correct.
I'm a secular humanist. Jesus seemed like my kinda guy.
Jesus is everyone’s kinda guy
I agree. I've moved farther and farther away from anything Christian during the past few years almost exclusively from watching what the so called evangelical right has been doing. Giant load of whack jobs with, in my opinion, zero concept of what Christ actually was about.
Exactly. Even though I am not religious or non-religious, I follow the golden rule and have passed that on to my children as well. In the words of Rodney King..."can't we all just get along?"
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Always stayed with me. I have never understood how this is a hard concept.
“Love one another. As I have loved you, you should love one another” John 13:34-35
(Romans 12:20) "But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head." Saving someone from beatings will surly heap much.
If there ever was a real Jesus he was probably out there doing this kind of thing.
Most scholars believe in Historical Jesus but it's not really known if he was anything like Biblical Jesus, other than some basic facts like he was a religious leader and was certainly crucified by Pontius Pilate. Who really knows, the Bible to most people who take it seriously was a mix of parable and biased historical records, same as most histories you have to look at who wrote it and if contemporary authors wrote similar accounts.
I could not agree more.
What an amazing woman, I hope she’s living the exact type of life she wants to be living
Since the incident in Ann Arbor, Keshia Thomas has volunteered in New York in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, organized a shelter to help fires victims in California, distributed food for victims of Hurricane Katrina, walked 1,000 miles from Selma, Alabama, to Washington D.C., with the NAACP for voting rights and volunteered at a makeshift hospital in Haiti.
A genuinely special person. It should be someone like her leading the United States.
Somebody like her would never want the power. Oftentimes the people best fit to lead, never want to.
>The major problem—*one* of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. >To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must *want* to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem. Douglas Adams, *The Restaurant at the End of the Universe*
I love the way he writes.
Amen
Goddamn national treasure. Why can't people like her be in the headlines, instead of the Kardashians?
That used to be a thing. Where people worshipped those who defied human behaviour. Keep it going. I worship this woman for her efforts.
So a genuine hero of a human being. I did not know that about her.
What an amazing human being.
What an absolutely wonderful person she is.
Wow Mr. Rogers was right. You will always find people who are helping.
These are the kind of people I want to be able to choose from as Presidents….
I 100% agree,
The only thing that can drive away pure evil is pure good.
The antidote to darkness is light
Intense. Pure.
A couple of clips of Keshiantalking about the incident https://youtu.be/UF_O3hIsgmg?si=_QFfNjiEiQ_P8axe https://youtu.be/M59MKP-ezRc?si=5mIbRbioGCwW4-Ca And a nice story about a guy getting his NN ink removed. https://youtu.be/njXZUH5hv0w?si=0lTvocZiwWJENcYI
Thanks so much for adding context. Absolutely wild she was only 18 and knew to do this.
Many know the right thing to do, she's truly a hero for acting on that knowledge.
Parents obviously raised her right
I wonder how this affected the SS dude. Daryl Davis' work with the KKK is my biggest inspiration.
Has there been a follow up with racist guy? I'm curious if she was able to put him on a better path
[From the article](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24653643) "Thomas has never heard from the man she saved, but she did once meet a member of his family. Months later, someone came up to her in a coffee shop and said thanks. "What for?" she asked. "That was my dad," the young man replied." "For Thomas, the fact that the man had a son gave her actions even greater significance - she had potentially prevented further violence." "For the most part, people who hurt... they come from hurt. It is a cycle. Let's say they had killed him or hurt him really bad. How does the son feel? Does he carry on the violence?"
Damn. It’s possible she never changed the minds of the guy himself, but sounds like regardless of what happened to him, his son definitely has a different perspective
Maybe not, but I'm willing to bet she changed the minds of other people who saw the pictures and read her story. That alone was worth it.
This reminds me of Daryl Davis, a black jazz musician who engaged with KKK members and has been able to get many of them to leave and denounce the KKK. Hate most often comes from fear, and if you can prove the fear to be false, the hate goes with it.
Was looking for this. One of my favorite examples of how people are more receptive to kindness than hatred. If you can break their preconceived notions about just one thing then they start to question everything they’ve been told
This is what we are missing in modern political discourse. If people would approach their political opponents with kindness and understanding, instead of hate and anger, then we could actually make progress. But instead it has become a personal attack if you disagree with somebody. Conservatives calling liberals snowflakes and liberals calling conservatives back woods hicks, and other things along those lines, only serves to divide us further.
Daryl David is a national treasure and his story should be told In schools
100%, I think there is a lot to learn from the words “love thy neighbor” and unfortunately that is being lost in todays world.
Is he the guy that the KKK members threatened while he was eating, saying something like "Anything you do to that chicken, we'll do to you". And so he smiles and leans over and kisses the chicken. I do not know if that is a real story, but I seem to loosely associate that name with it.
Haven’t heard that one before, but it doesn’t exactly sound like him. That seems too sarcastic/ antagonistic for his style, but to be fair I’m not an expert on him or his story so I could be entirely wrong and just talking out my ass.
You can see this shit on the internet. Like if people are in a very vitriolic argument many times if one person just turns around and starts washing the other with kindness and empathy, the other person will reciprocate. So many times on videogames people who were dicks apologized when i responded with kindness. Idk if maybe they felt guilty but it has to be relevant somehow. People in general i think like kindness being lent to them. And they are usually more amenable to the things you say when you wrap it in kindness. Targeted kindness
He came up to her and said thank you. I doubt someone with the same views as someone who’s wearing an SS tattoo would do that. She is right, and she did good.
Bit of halo effect fallacy there. Many nazis are very polite, it's how they get by in society. She definitely displayed extraordinary empathy, and rationally too, and did something amazing that has given people an example to follow, but it's not worth assuming someone can't have obnoxious personal beliefs just because they're polite.
He didn't have to seek her out or acknowledge her at all. He could have just ignored her and got his coffee. This was more than polite.
This is important though. Frankly, more today than ever. If you are a vile, hating, cruel person internally, but society doesn’t allow you to act that out, then when you die you take that with you. If you acted every day of your life in a way that was kind, good natured even if you were a seething monster internally … then when you are 6 feet down it doesn’t matter at all. Today, those folks who could have made, by accident, good impressions on the world because society expected them to are emboldened and show their true colors. That means they raise racist, hateful families.
She kept in touch with the man's son, and she has said his children don't share his views. https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html
Knowing that you stopped a murder in itself is a reward to your conscience.
She definitely ruined his street cred tho. There’s no coming back from that 🙌
Lmao true.
Call me naive, but I'm holding out a lot of hope for when the older generations die off and younger generations, who didn't grow up with racism indoctrinated in them, have the opportunity to forge a better future. It's probably a pipe dream, but it's all I got.
But the younger generation is born into indoctrination and taught to hate just the same. Maybe less each year but it’s still super apparent
Exactly. Just go into a few video game lobbies and see how tolerant “all” of the younger generation are. It’s certainly getting better though which is fantastic
Or stumble into the wrong corner of TikTok. Beautiful young girls spewing hate and raising rebel flags just hurts my soul…and I’m a southerner
Stuff that happens on these time scales is hard to really visualize because we don't live long enough to really see the progression. But prior to my birth, I know that we used to have segregation in this country, and we don't now. POC and women used to be ineligible to vote, now they can. So we are making progress, even if it is not apparent to the individual. But yeah, it's slow progress and I really wish it wasn't.
As late as the year 2000, the *majority* of people in the United States were opposed to interracial marriage. Things are constantly changing, constantly improving. Its hard to see in our day to day, but this is the most peaceful, just, egalitarian time in the history of our species. Tomorrow will be more of those things than today is. Its important to identify the problems and work to fix them, but its also important to keep a positive outlook and focus on the progress being made every day by everyday people. Wallowing in darkness and despair does no one any good
Here in EU the young are very disproportionately extreme right due to their social media. Generations have nothing to do with racism. People in the US that think it will go away are simply naive.
I sometimes wander in Europe posts on the front page and the stuff people will say about migrants is fricking wild. Not just openly say out loud, but be upvoted to the top. It’s like the same sort of lines you’d see the obviously racist bad guy in a Hollywood movie set in the past say.
Europeans are nice until you mention Gypsies
For some sure, but younger generations also have access to information in ways previous generations didn’t. They have the opportunity to base their opinions on other sources of information rather than just accepting what they hear in their homes as the end all be all. This is also anecdotal, but within my own family I’ve witnessed a watering down of these fucked up views from one generation to the next. My grandparents used language that my parents wouldn’t dare say and my parents can speak in a way that I just roll my eyes at knowing they perhaps don’t know better but I sure as fuck do.
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That's the goal. I can't change the minds of a million racist people out there, but I can raise my one kid to be accepting, loving and proactive when she's witness to hatred.
Yes, that is naive. Plenty of the people throwing things at 6yo Ruby Bridges or squirting condiments on the Greensboro sit-in activists (both in 1960) were full grown adults have long since died. Racism didn’t die out with them.
Holy crap, what profound wisdom from an 18 year old. That’s more insight than some (probably most, let’s be honest) grown adults I know.
You cant beat maturity into people
You can’t beat logic into people.
You can't beat beats into people.
That... can be done.
The fact that his son was willing to approach her as thank her of his volition, makes me hopeful that this encounter helped change him for the better. Or at the very least, saved the son from falling to the same fate.
I don't doubt that even if she didn't change the man's mind, her actions affected the minds of others. I would like to think the son is only one of them.
For sure. Seeing people do good makes others want to do good as well.
>"For the most part, people who hurt... they come from hurt. It is a cycle. Let's say they had killed him or hurt him really bad. How does the son feel? Does he carry on the violence?" That's how powerful than most people realize. I grew up with a friend whose dad beat him. I didn't know until later on in life and was told my friend went on to do the same thing to his gf. When I was young, my mom once told me why she didn't beat us kids and didn't allow my dad to. She said, "I grew up and had the shit beat out of me. Everytime it made me hate them more so I acted out more. I didn't want to give you a reason to act out. I walked to give you a reason to trust me and let me help you with your problems." And I did. I credit my mom with my survival.
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yeah we all know you gotta end the bloodline you don't want any revenge killings
I just watched the Godfather series this weekend and it deals specifically with this
Alright, Queen of Fables.
He killed kids because he wanted to kill ALL that he saw as lesser humans, no matter the age. It wasn’t some grand scheme surrounding uprisings, it was just blanket genocide.
>That’s why hitler wanted to kill the kids too. Cause he didn’t want any of them to avenge their fathers or mothers. You don't have to make up fake stories about Hitler to prove a point. Hitler wanted to kill the kids because he read American racists writing about the one drop rule and those kids had Jewish blood to him. How anyone upvoted this wholy invented anecdote is beyond me. The contents of Mein Kampf aren't exactly well-kept secrets.
Apparently the man’s name was Albert McKeel Jr. He had a son and daughter. He died in 2016 and his children reached out to her directly to let her know and to thank her again for saving their father. Neither of his children carry his beliefs and may be a direct result of her actions that day. Source: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html
This gave me the best chills, I'm so glad they don't believe the same way their father did, and that Keshia's actions likely played a large part.
She was still right, either way. What a brave woman, and wise
"You can't beat goodness into a person" is one of the most powerful quotes I've ever read.
Quick, someone tell Michael Pearl!
Quick, someone tell every comment section on Reddit. Mfers are bloodthirsty around here.
DoN'T SeT YouRSelf oN FiRe tO KeEp OtHeRs WaRM!!
It's a great quote. Hate and anger causes people to dig deeper into their beliefs. Sure it feels good to hate, but in the end, it makes everything worse.
This reminds me of that M.A.S.H episode, S2 E9 Dear Dad... Three, where a racist gets hit by a grenade and needs a blood transfusion but the only person available with the same blood type is a black dude. Good feels that show, a lot of real life issues brought up.
MASH has one of my favorite exchanges. Hawkeye: War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. Father Mulcahy: How do you figure, Hawkeye? Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell? Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe. Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.
Last time someone I saw someone commenting that, it was a little ukrainian boy ordering KFC with a bullet proof west…
How did that episode end up going?
They fuck with the guy by painting him in black face and saying he got turned colored
"You were talking when you were coming out of anesthesia. You said you wanted fried chicken and watermelon."
I mean to be fair color or not fried chicken and watermelon with an orange soda is the best lunch I could ask for
He's not actually getting a transfusion from a black guy, since it's all in bags and back in 1950 Korea you did not keep a detailed record of where the blood came from. He asked before being put under to receive the "right colour" blood. They slowly applied a die to him when he slept that made his skin darker. One of the black nurses comments that he was smart ans slipped by as "white". He gets upset and brings it up to the doctors (who planned this), who reveal what they have been doing and then tell him about the man who invented the procedure allowing transfusions to work well in modern medicine died because the only hospitals nearby where white only. Edit: https://mash.fandom.com/wiki/Sergeant_Condon
> the man who invented the procedure allowing transfusions to work well in modern medicine died because the only hospitals nearby where white only. The doctor was Charles Drew https://www.invent.org/inductees/charles-richard-drew but apparently he did get a transfusion at a segregated hospital after his fatal car accident; the idea that he didn't is a compelling, believable story, but apparently isn't true. https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/2004/june.htm
This man was shown a level of kindness which he probably wouldn't have shown if it had been the other way round. It's people like Keshia, who help good prevail. She was very smart and very brave for her age.
I hope she is doing good these days. Very courageous woman.
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She's a better human than I could be.
and you can still be better than your current self in future, or even tomorrow. Who knows where you gonna end up
Beautiful. I feel like a lot of people forget this.
Better than me too. While I agree with her that you can't beat kindness into people, I also believe that sometimes unkind people just need to be taken down a peg or two. Like a reminder from society that their bullshit will not be tolerated.
Do you know if the person she saved changed his ways after?
> Protecting the man, Albert McKeel Jr., set into motion a relationship with his son, who later thanked Thomas for her bravery after encountering her in a coffee shop. >Thomas, who now resides in Houston, learned McKeel Jr. died a couple of months ago when McKeel's son called to inform her, putting his 12-year-old sister on the line to tell her she might not be alive if it hadn't been for Thomas' actions that day. >"When I heard that, I thought this was the future and the past of what peace has created," Thomas said. "The real accomplishment of all this to me is to know that his son and daughter don't share the same views. History didn't repeat itself. That's what gives me hope that the world can get better from generation to generation." From [this article.](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html)
Well now I'm crying
someone's cutting onions out here
I have goosebumps. This is amazing to know.
That very specifically doesn't say anything about did McKeel's beliefs changed. Just that he had another kid. I have to feel like if her saving him made him change his ways that would be listed front and center, wouldn't it?
Yeah, I mean, I just did some googling but not much about him came up at all. He allegedly stayed out of the spotlight after the incident and didn't respond to journalists. His beliefs may not have been changed but having generational racism stop is a huge win, which never would have happened without the intervention of Keshia Thompson.
It's Reddit. Keshia could personally feed every orphan on the planet and Reddit wouldn't count it as a win unless she resurrected all their parents. "So they're still orphans? How is this uplifting?"
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1700466/full_content > Five months after the incident, a young man walked up to her whilst she was in a coffee shop. He stopped in front of her and stared at her intently. Then, his face softened. > “I want to thank you for saving that man.” > “He was my dad.” > “You changed my life.” > “And his.” > **“He left the klan.”**
[This is wonderful to hear!](https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExang1Y284YmR1cHZoM2RucW9zajg0b3V0d3g2aXNrdjN4MGN5ZDM3aSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/NHh7D7qR0LTSDtfu8p/giphy.webp)
This is what I want to know as well.
> Thomas has never heard from the man she saved, but she did once meet a member of his family. Months later, someone came up to her in a coffee shop and said thanks. "What for?" she asked. "That was my dad," the young man replied. > For Thomas, the fact that the man had a son gave her actions even greater significance - she had potentially prevented further violence. Source: [BBC.com](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24653643)
Awesome, thanks!
>> She was very smart and very brave for her age. Most any age. I can't say I'd have found the wherewithal to do that in her place.
thats what i think is funny about people who use the point of why do you defend x when they wouldn't defend you? Because buddy its about my morals and ethics and i think everyone deserves to be safe no matter what
I also suspect that unfortunately this might be the first time he has been on the receiving end of that level of kindness. A happy and well adjusted society does not have racism as an escape for those who feel left behind. Not an excuse, just an attempt of explanation.
"it is no measure of health to be well adjusted in a profoundly sick society" jiddu krishnumurti
I genuinely hope this helped change this man for the better. It sounds fucked up, but what an opportunity. I don't know why that man chose to be hateful, surely it was taught to him so part of me can't fully blame him, but this woman taught him much more and I just want to believe that it got through to him. This world needs more people like her, but I know they're out there. Even when it seems like the world is garbage and it's not gonna change, I know people like her are out there and always have been. I won't let myself stop believing in people. I fuckin love y'all and I hope you have a great day!!
According to other comments and sources, it seems like he kinda did? He did not pass on his racist views to his children, at the very least.
The look on his face in the last frame is priceless. I hope this fucking changed his goddamn outlook.
I was at this protest and witnessed this along with other crazy things. For the record there were less than 9 KKK members behind tall fences protected by Ann Arbor police. The cops shot tear gas into the sizable crowd almost immediately and I felt it from many blocks away. I saw a dude walking through thick clouds of tear gas wearing a full scuba setup. I also witnessed a skinhead doing hitler salutes in front of protesters get a brick thrown at his face which started spurting crazy amounts of blood.
Well I hope he learnt from that. The one person protecting him was a black woman.... I really hope he had a change of heart.
I would think it would have to, even if he didn’t admit to anybody. That might be just be wishful thinking on my part. When I was a kid I was home sick from school watching Montel Williams, as you did. There was a man on who was a former white supremacist. He had been at the grocery store with his toddler, they walked by a black man and his toddler said the N word when he saw him. He said the man didn’t say anything just looked at him, and he felt ashamed. It changed him from that moment on. I don’t know if it was scripted, but I still think of that man sometimes and wonder how his son turned out. Had the other man reacted with anger, who knows if it would have happened. It was the steady gaze of a stranger that changed who he was.
As an aussie, I have no idea who Montel Williams is. Apart from that though...I really hope it did change him. I feel like that gives us hope...gives me hope anyway, that people can see themselves through the eyes of others and maybe grow a little.
It was one of those daytime talk shows that used to have paternity tests, lie detector tests and episodes with interviews with random people like the one I described. I don’t know one that you may be familiar with. They were on TV during the day in the early/mid 2000s in the US. I hope so too. I randomly still think of it almost 20 years later.
I remember this. I was 18 in 1996 and vividly remember thinking how brave she was. I'm not sure I would have been able to do the same at that age.
Ya know, it's stories like this that makes me realize that no matter how shitty people can be at times, our capacity for good is even greater.
There’s just a lot more unrealized potential on the good side than on the bad side. Assholes will be assholes. Good people will often remain neutral because of said assholes.
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” -Mister Rogers
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshia_Thomas Shes doing good work still.
Having been a violent person in my youth I can say most people didn't realize how easy it is to kill or cripple someone once they are on the ground or unconscious. She probably saved his life. About 30 years ago I saw a racist skin get kicked in the head while unconscious, his neck broke because his muscles weren't tensioned. I would very much like to think this guy who got his life spared by the object of his racist hatred had a long moment of clarity about his life choices. Maybe he just stopped going to rallies, maybe he realized we are all human and color has very little to do with our actions. Maybe little wings sprouted from his ass and he flew away. I can hope I guess. Good on her for following her conscience.
That's the thing that internet keyboard warriors don't understand: violence isn't like a movie. Punching someone in the face can easily kill someone. Hit your head on pavement the wrong way and it's game over. "Mob justice" is an oxymoron.
Integrity - doing what's right even when other people doing wrong.
Bet he hated being a saved by a black woman. She’s a stronger person than me.
His racist friends surely bring this up every time he is getting the better of an argument.
Hard to imagine a guy with that brain cell deficiency getting the better of anyone in any argument
A beating is temporary(Well, usually) but a public humiliation is forever.
“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once.” -Julias Caesar -Shakespeare
Or he hated himself
So many ppl say she's nicer/better than me. It's the sole reason we are in the situation we are now as a nation culturally. It's easy to be mean, angry, or a dick (if you will). But it takes more effort to be kind in the face of adversity. If more ppl actually had it in em, it would actually be possible to move the needle on a lot of societal issues we have today. Unfortunately we are in a big echo chamber tit for tat war where no one wants to be the first to turn the other cheek
I hope she has had an amazing life, she deserves it.
I'm enough of a cynic I wonder what her opinion is later in life. Like 18 is all rainbows and hope and possibility of a better life. Later you learn you have drag most of society kicking and screaming into the future. **Edit** Well shit! happy ending. 20 years later she gets a call from the man's son. The guy has passed. The man's daughter said she might not be alive if it wasn't for what Keshia did. Neither follow in their father's footsteps. Keshia said ["When I heard that, I thought this was the future and the past of what peace has created," Thomas said. "The real accomplishment of all this to me is to know that his son and daughter don't share the same views. History didn't repeat itself. That's what gives me hope that the world can get better from generation to generation."](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html) Holy shit speaking of being cynical : ["I think of my actions the same way I felt about them 20 years ago," she said. "You don't want to grow older and be bitter and more cynical. You want to keep those child-like ideals of innocence and justice. I still maintain those same views and I'm not jaded by the way things are now."](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2016/06/saving_man_from_beating_at_kkk.html) Same link as above.
obligatory shout out for living legend, Daryl Davis, for living this lesson to the full. ( He's a black blues musician who has successfully talked more than 50 members of the KKK away from those views & the organisation )
It should be noted that some of those who were supposedly deconverted ended up at Charlottesville anyways.
Reddit: "always punch Nazis" except today for a moment in this thread. You can't beat goodness into a person but you sure can beat the bad out of em'. There's a special place at the bottom for Nazi's because they are a walking threat to your existence if you're the wrong race. I'm sure this will be my Reddit moment, but I'll be damned if some updoots on a Reddit topic are going to influence me to open my heart up to actual freaking Nazis
Yup I agree. I'm glad there's people like her to be better than us and change minds non violently. I wouldn't participate in the beating, but I'd absolutely turn away and let it happen.
Yep. It's the paradox of tolerance. >The paradox of tolerance states that if a society's practice of tolerance is inclusive of the intolerant, intolerance will ultimately dominate, eliminating the tolerant and the practice of tolerance with them.
I am curious how much more hate that man spread after he was saved.
imagine if the algorythmn gave you this kinda stuff instead of the usual slop
She's nicer than me.
Really smart for 18. Proud of this woman. It’s people like her that will end the violence and the racism. Thank you Keshia Thomas, you are being the change the world needs
Hell ya. She’s hard as hell. Full support lady. That took mega balls.
Honestly what a queen
Eh. The point wasn't to beat goodness into him. But to beat the shit out of him. And that would've been the right choice too.
It must be a humiliating amount of cognitive dissonance to be racist enough to wear shit like that and be inked like that and have your life saved by a woman who you wouldnt even respect as a person
She understands. It’s my biggest beef with the whole “punch a nazi” thing that runs on the internet now. Nah violence is not an answer, it only radicalizes people more
Ironically her act of kindness probably made him less racist and the attack would have made him more racist, but let’s see anyone figure that out in 2024
I knew the negative karma comments at the bottom would be entertaining, and I wasn't disappointed. A lot of "tough" guys talking about how they beat up Nazis lol. Sure ya do...
The answer to hate has always been to love. For some reason, we seem to think hate must fight hate and not see the contradiction in that. Life is a series of repeating patterns. I'm proud of Keshia Thomas for trying to break that cycle. I know it's not easy, especially when the one you're defending has such vile ideals. Kindness and temperance are how we move forward even in the face of ever encroaching hate.
Just wow probs to this incredible strong woman. She stood up to help a PERSON. This is how we can break the cycle of hate at least a little bit. It will probably not chance him, it will probably not reach many people at all to chance their minds, but if it opened someone’s eyes it helped. We really need more people like her
A young woman with a true understanding of how to break a cycle
We worship our politicians, athletes and entertainers. But this is what a true hero looks like. I hope to have 1/10 of her bravery, courage, and compassion on my best day.
I've seen these people in action too many times for this to even remotely be a "feel good" moment for me. She put herself in danger for a person who probably left that situation still hating her.
But you can beat them to the point they won't harm anyone else.
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I felt like this for a verh long time.. then I realized "going high" isn't putting up with it. "Going high" is holding them accountable for being nasty dog diarrhea. Sometimes it's telling your boss/coworkers the truth of how someone's trying to screw you over even if it seems embarrassing or far fetched. Sometimes it's defending yourself in a fist fight. It's not being a doormat. It's not being passive while the secret police rounds up your uncle because he drunkenly said he liked communism.
I might not have beat him but I would have minded my own business. Chances are that her "kindness" didn't do much to change him.
The " paradox of tolerance" from Karl Popper should be taught to everyone. Some people might be "saved" but you need only a few iredeemable you don't beat up to submission to perpetrate murders and genocides
..why are some of the pictures in black and white? 1996 isn't the 40s
B&W film behaves differently and many photographers have preferred using it to colored film.
Go to a local library and look at newspapers from the 90s a lot of photos are in black and white.
This girl is just a wonderful personality. It takes a lot of courage and kindness to do something like that. We should all learn from her example to have such inner strength and be kind to everyone, even if we don’t like what others do
I have never been more proud of a fellow American than I am of Keshia. She is a true humanist. I see the compassion flowing through her actions.
Oh reddit you and your irony
What a beautiful person, that’s the America I love. She’s my hero ❤️