A Mighty Girl
Dear Friends around the world,
I try to always share stories and pictures that inspire me to be a better person. My blog team and I do spend a lot of time to ‘come across’ these stories to share with you. I do not hope for any gain except to enrich your lives as it does mine. I hope you enjoy them and feel moved by them as I do. I do not reproduce or post things I feel unmoved about.
This story of Keshia Thomas has to be reproduced here. I have to share this story with you. As I blog this, tears flow down my face as I am touched by her compassion, care and bravery. Bravery is a sign of compassion. She is beyond amazing. I am moved by bravery. I am moved by human courage motivated for the betterment of others. I could never be anyone’s hero, but I sure can share real heroes with you. Remember, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a well known hate/religious/Baptist Christian group that really despises people of color (non White) and who practice a different religion than their own. They have the right to exist/form under the US constitution, but their views do not accept the people and religion of many in this world.
Please read this post and feel the humanity in Keshia. We need heroes and we need to read about this.
Tsem Rinpoche
When Keshia Thomas was 18 years old in 1996, the KKK held a rally in her home town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Hundreds of protesters turned out to tell the white supremacist organization that they were not welcome in the progressive college town. At one point during the event, a man with a SS tattoo and wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a Confederate flag ended up on the protesters’ side of the fence and a small group began to chase him. He was quickly knocked to the ground and kicked and hit with placard sticks.
As people began to shout, “Kill the Nazi,” the high school student, fearing that mob mentality had taken over, decided to act. Thomas threw herself on top of one of the men she had come to protest, protecting him from the blows. In discussing her motivation after the event, she stated, “Someone had to step out of the pack and say, ‘this isn’t right’… I knew what it was like to be hurt. The many times that that happened, I wish someone would have stood up for me… violence is violence – nobody deserves to be hurt, especially not for an idea.”
Thomas never heard from the man after that day but months later, a young man came up to her to say thanks, telling her that the man she had protected was his father. For Thomas, learning that he had a son brought even greater significance to her heroic act. As she observed, “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?”
Mark Brunner, the student photographer who took this now famous photograph, added that what was so remarkable was who Thomas saved: “She put herself at physical risk to protect someone who, in my opinion, would not have done the same for her. Who does that in this world?”
And, in response to those who argued that the man deserved a beating or more, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator Leonard Pitts Jr. offered this short reflection in The Miami Herald: “That some in Ann Arbor have been heard grumbling that she should have left the man to his fate, only speaks of how far they have drifted from their own humanity. And of the crying need to get it back.
Keshia’s choice was to affirm what they have lost.
Keshia’s choice was human.
Keshia’s choice was hope.”
To view more pictures of this Mighty Girl’s remarkable act of courage and read more about the event, visit the BBC at http://bbc.in/1djDOGY
For stories for children and teens about real-life girls and women who took a stand for what they believed in, visit A Mighty Girl’s “Role Model” section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography
For both fictional and biographical books for children and teens that star courageous girls and women, visit our “Courage / Bravery” section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/personal-development/values?cat=218
For Mighty Girl stories that explore racial discrimination and prejudice, visit http://www.amightygirl.com/books/social-issues/prejudice-discrimination?cat=71
I thank Greg Oakes for posting this.
Dear Mr. Mark Brunner, thank you for these wonderful photos. I share them here to bring a message of hope and inspiration to many.
The crowd is chasing this man and you can see the 18 year old Keshia Thomas (wearing USA white shirt) running behind.
Keshia Thomas at 18 years old has great compassion and fights to protect this stranger who came to protest against her race and her way of life. She protects someone who protested against her and her race and who she is. Amazing. Keshia is selfless. Respect of an opponent is the ultimate sign of a intelligent and rational person.
Keshia Thomas protects the man risking herself from being beaten. Keshia does not even know who the man is but she believes no one should be hurt. KKK are an extremist group in USA who hates black people and all people of color. They hate all religions besides their own brand of Christianity.
So much compassion, so much humanity and this inspires all of us to be better. Keshia Thomas is a hero. She is my hero. Thank you Keshia for being compassionate and human. I will print out this picture and keep near me always.
Extended version of the account:
Keshia Thomas was 18 when the Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacist organisation, held a rally in her home town in Michigan.
Liberal, progressive and multicultural, Ann Arbor was an unusual place for the KKK to choose, and hundreds of people gathered to show them they were not welcome.
The atmosphere was tense, but controlled. Police dressed in riot gear and armed with tear gas protected a small group of Klansmen in white robes and conical hoods. Thomas was with a group of anti-KKK demonstrators on the other side of a specially-erected fence.
Then a woman with a megaphone shouted, “There’s a Klansman in the crowd.”
They turned around to see a white, middle-aged man wearing a Confederate flag T-shirt. He tried to walk away from them, but the protesters, including Thomas, followed, “just to chase him out”.
It was unclear whether the man was a Ku Klux Klan supporter, but to the anti-KKK protesters, his clothes and tattoos represented exactly what they had come to resist. The Confederate flag he wore was for them a symbol of hatred and racism, while the SS tattoo on his arm pointed to a belief in white supremacy, or worse.
There were shouts of “Kill the Nazi” and the man began to run – but he was knocked to the ground. A group surrounded him, kicking him and hitting him with the wooden sticks of their placards.
Mob mentality had taken over. “It became barbaric,” says Thomas.
“When people are in a crowd they are more likely to do things they would never do as an individual. Someone had to step out of the pack and say, ‘This isn’t right.'”
So the teenager, then still at high school, threw herself on top of a man she did not know and shielded him from the blows.
“When they dropped him to the ground, it felt like two angels had lifted my body up and laid me down.”
For Mark Brunner, a student photographer who witnessed the episode, it was who she saved that made Thomas’ actions so remarkable.
“She put herself at physical risk to protect someone who, in my opinion, would not have done the same for her,” he says. “Who does that in this world?”
So what gave Thomas the impetus to help a man whose views it appeared were so different from her own? Her religious beliefs played a part. But her own experience of violence was a factor, too.
“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.”
The circumstances – which she does not want to describe – were different. “But violence is violence – nobody deserves to be hurt, especially not for an idea.”
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?”
Teri Gunderson, who was bringing up her two adopted mixed-race daughters in Iowa at the time, was so touched by Thomas’ story that she kept a copy of her picture – and still looks at it 17 years later. Gunderson even thinks the student made her a better person.
“The voice in my head says something like this, ‘If she could protect a man [like that], I can show kindness to this person.’ And with that encouragement, I do act with more kindness. I don’t know her, but since then I am more kind.”
But she asks herself whether she could be as brave as Thomas. What if one of the hurtful people who had racially abused her girls was in danger, she wonders. “Would I save them, or would I stand there and say, ‘You deserved it, you were a jerk.’ I just don’t know the answer to that, yet. Maybe that is why I am so struck by her.”
Brunner and Gunderson both often think of the teenager’s actions. But Thomas, now in her 30s and living in Houston, Texas, does not. She prefers to concentrate on what more she can do in future, rather than what she has achieved in the past.
“I don’t want to think that this is the best I could ever be. In life you are always striving to do better.”
Thomas says she tries to do something to break down racial stereotypes every day. No grand gestures – she thinks that small, regular acts of kindness are more important.
“The biggest thing you can do is just be kind to another human being. It can come down to eye contact, or a smile. It doesn’t have to be a huge monumental act.”
Looking back at his photos of Thomas pushing back the mob that day in June 1996, Brunner says: “We would all like to be a bit like Keshia, wouldn’t we? She didn’t think about herself. She just did the right thing.”
‘Keshia’s choice was hope’
“That some in Ann Arbor have been heard grumbling that she should have left the man to his fate, only speaks of how far they have drifted from their own humanity. And of the crying need to get it back.
Keshia’s choice was to affirm what they have lost.
Keshia’s choice was human.
Keshia’s choice was hope.”
By Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator Leonard Pitts Jr. The Miami Herald, 29 June 1996
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24653643
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What a courageous stand for humanity! Keisha Thomas really showed everyone how keeping a cool head and not following crowd mentality prevented further harm on another. Her compassion was saving another who would have lynched her if the situation was turned around. How many of us would have jumped to protect someone we perceived as the “enemy”? For one so young (still in high school), she had wisdom as expressed within these words, “But violence is violence – nobody deserves to be hurt, especially not for an idea.”
If only had her wisdom and courage, then the sufferings of the Shugden practitioners would stop. When CTA imposed the illegal/illogical ban on Dorje Shugden practices, if more were to stand up for the rights of religious freedom, then maybe there won’t be a mob mentality on harm against Shugden practitioners. May His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s decree that Dorje Shugden does not harm him nor the Tibetan cause be swiftly translated into lifting of the ban by CTA.
Keisha is definitely a very brave and compassion girl. Who would dare to stand up for others when she is all alone and surrounded by so many people. I really respect her courage to protect the man even though she may get hurt. It is real kindness that she protects the weak.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this story
Dear Rinpoche
Thank you for this wonderful post. I learned a lot from this simple stories compared to many other stories. Keshia Thomas is really an inspiration. She saved the person who “presumably” hate her and do harm to her race. I think Keshia did have more realisation than most people I know and even myself. By saving that man, she became the embodiment of true sense of humanity. This story really touches my heart.
Thank you again Rinpoche for posting this story.
Valentina
世界各国，每个地方都会有人与人之间的矛盾、分歧、岐视的问题存在。
每个人都认为自己是最优秀，因而不能包容其他人或是其他种族，才会发生这么多问题。
其实人与人之间的相处是非常重要的学问，只有有人的地方就会有问题永远也无法阻止问题的存在。
只是我和你不同种族和肤色，就会遭人岐视。其实就算是我们都是东方人，一样会有人与人之间相处的问题存在。
岐视只会增加仇恨，不能带来和平，仇恨只会带来伤害。只有和平相处才会有更好的明天。
想想，如果每个人都能学习包容其他人或是种族。学习用爱与关怀包容心来相处。
这个世界人与人之间产生摩擦会比较少，希望每个人都会用一颗爱与包容心去和他人或是种族相处。不管什么样的人，什么种族，都应该好好相处不该有歧视的心态。换个心态去看世界学习与人相处之道。也许这个世界上就会变得更美好。
世界各国，每个地方都会有人与人之间的矛盾、分歧、岐视的问题存在。
每个人都认为自己是最优秀，因而不能包容其他人或是其他种族。
其实人与人之间的相处是非常重要的学问，只有有人的地方就会有问题永远也无法阻止问题的存在。
只是我和你不同种族和肤色，就会遭人岐视。其实就算是我们都是东方人，一样会有人与人之间相处的问题存在。
岐视只会增加仇恨，不能带来和平，仇恨只会带来伤害。只有和平相处才会有更好的明天。
想想，如果每个人都能学习包容其他人或是种族。学习用爱与关怀包容心来相处。
这个世界人与人之间产生摩擦会比较少，希望每个人都会用一颗爱与包容心去和他人或是种族相处。不管什么样的人，什么种族，都应该好好相处不该有歧视的心态。换个心态去看世界学习与人相处之道。也许这个世界上就会变得更美好。
To protect and save someone you need to be brave enough to take the risk you yourself might get hurt. To protect someone who is against your race, your religion and your existence, it needs more than courage. It’s compassion just like Rinpoche mentioned in the article.
When Thomas says she tries to do something to break down racial stereotypeswithout doing any “great” thing, but starts with “small” things like regular acts of kindness or even an eye contact or a word of appreciation. Her bravery for sure comes from her education, her belief in not giving harm to those who going to harm us, not believing in be violence to stop violence.
Most importantly we can see she has the experience of being hurt and not wishing the same experience for others. Just like Rinpoche always says “Don’t wait for the light, be the light”, Keshia Thomas is the one who light herself up quitely in a small way but more of us do the same starting from a “small” way, the world is going to change eventually to a better world for everyone to live in.
我觉的，只要有人類的地方，就会出现种族纠紛与肤色岐视的问题－就好像某些动物一样，非我族類，休越雷池一步。
是什么原因造成的呢？应该是优越感与自我作崇，总認为自己高人一等，或被侵犯了。
这让我想起仁波切在美国求学时，也因为有一張東方臉孔和衣服的关係而遭到同学取笑，这也是一种岐视。像故事中这位黑人少女，雖然她本身是遭人岐视的对象，但她明白不能以其人之道还治其人之身，因为这解決不了问题，反而更加深仇恨，所以她才会挺身保护对方。
像她这么情操高尚的人，真是大家学习的榜样．
唯有爱与包容才能化解人与人之間的仇恨。
It is stories of such courage and compassion that gives light to true justice that will bring about change that defines humanity. Keshia story helps reminds us that even at the hands of our oppressor, we must never be like our oppressor but instead be the bigger person, practice what preach and wish for ourselves. Hence Rinpoche’s kind advice to us to always be polite and never be rude/abusive/violent when we speak up against all those who hate Shugden practitioners. Because karma is karma, and like what Keisha says “violence is violence – nobody deserves to be hurt, especially not for an idea.”
This girl is truly a mighty girl. A hero that we should be looking up to. She has looked passed all the differences..
The biggest thing that she has truly looked passed is the grudges that many people will hold when they are on the different sides of an issue. Not only has Keshia stood up for the man that protested against the differences that they have that was outside of her house, she stood up for the man despite having the risk of being hurt as well.
She truly displays the quality of being a human. Being kind to others, despite the differences. I say that she is truly being a human as she knows that she may not be able to make the man change his perceptions, but she did not add more “trouble” for him, she helped him out of his “trouble”. She stood out against all to help putting herself out there not thinking about herself even for a moment.
Through her, it is a pure example that many things can be solved in non-violent ways. Doing things for others despite whatever differences that you may have. Through her actions of kindness, she has already touched another person’s life and brought joy. If all of us are able to be like her as selfless, the world that we are living in will be a much better place as there will be more love and kindness for everyone and every living being that we cross paths with.
This girl is my hero. She is truly a human being. Even though the meaning of being human has changed nowadays. But she did the right thing in that situation and she is truly selfless, wise and compassionate. She was against him and yet she protected him from harm and that is actually a true form of protest if you think about it.
What I meant by that is the truest form of protest because the proper way to approach something that doesn’t agree with you is to simply not follow it but if it is aggressive towards you and you must make a stand. You do it formally and properly. With formality and proper debate. The proper way with senses and humanity. The fact that nowadays protests are like riots, that means that people have lost their true humanity. When Martin Luthor King Jr had his protest it was a formal protest that stood up for his people and e did it with humanity and there was no fighting needed like this. No brutality and no need for violence. Standing up for yourself doesn’t mean that there must be a fight.
She is such a great human being and she has just inspired me to be a proper human if I ever have to act for something and for someone. Because she has taught me that violence is not the key, everyone has rights, selflessness and the truest form of humanity. That is what she demonstrated that day because I am sure that man wouldn’t have done it for her and it is also another lesson to not stoop so low to join other peoples low ranks if they are bad that doesn’t meant that you must fight them on your level, stand up for yourself and be higher than them because if you become them, you have already lost your profile.
I quite enjoy reading stories like this, when people stand up for what is right. I restores my faith in humanity.
The title of this post says it all. ‘Mighty’ is the best word we can use to describe this girl. She knew she could have gotten seriously hurt but yet she did what was right. This post is a lot like another post i read about a boy named Christian who grew his hair to donate to those with cancer. Both Christian and this girl faced problems and knew that they needed to do the right thing. People like this inspire me to become a better person and stand up for not only myself, but for others. This is a very strong way to show compassion to others.
I hope that this post has touched others like how it has touched me. And i hope that Rinpoche shares more inspiring stories with us!
Yes, this black teenager who protected a white man from an angry mob who thought he supported the racist Ku Klux Klan, was indeed an act of extraordinary courage and compassion – till today is inspiring people! To cultivate compassion I remember H.H. The Dalai Lama has once quoted in his book of teachings, “It is necessary to minimise the effects of such divisions among humanity such as races, cultures, appearances and varying philosophical traditions. Human beings are human beings of the same kind – a true sense of brotherhood! Recognition must be through this true sense of brotherhood of love for one another, more concern for others, less selfishness. These are essentials that binds the World together.” Om Mani Padme Hung.
Dear Rinpoche,
Keshia is a mighty girl indeed. 🙂 Doing what is right, because it is right and nothing more. Not many people do that nowadays… So thank you for always posting interesting, inspiring and emotional post for us, Rinpoche. 🙂 I (along with many others I’m sure) am grateful to every post that is on your blog.
Thank you for showing us, through your blog, that there are many people out there who change the mindset of other people for the better by just being themselves and doing what is compassionate and selfless. These inspire me to do good in my life as well. 🙂
Thank you.
Your humble student,
Keng Hwa.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the true example of selflessness and compassion towards others.
Keshia Thomas’ selflessness and compassion towards the man who was unknown to her, has reminded us that we should not react based on how we feel or follow the majority’s direction, but to react and take actions based on the true facts with pure compassion, kindness and willingness to protect any living beings who are suffering in pain regardless of who they are. We need to do what is required in order to stop the violence from spreading uncontrollable in this degenerate age of ours.
I salute to Keshia Thomas for being such a courageous and compassionate person. Compassion knows no barrier; irrespective of race, colour or religion. Her actions protecting a stranger showed that she has true human ethics. She put herself at risk protecting someone she doesn’t know and that is the act of a true human being.,
马来西亚的教育系统，从小学到中学，道德教育是被列为必修的科目。但是却不像国语，英语，华语，科学和数学如此的被看重。因此学生们，家长们以及老师们，往往都会忽略了它的重要性。本人觉得，这样的教育方针其实是不够完美。因为，如果一个成绩非常好的学生，但却忽略了道德教育里所带出的知识～做人的厚道，往后的他们的成长过程是非常有可能有着不良好的品行或更严重是误入歧途。
而这篇博文虽然没有清楚的写出当时还在学校求学的Keshia Thomas是否像我们有上道德教育科目，但她是如此的见义勇为和不顾自己是黑皮肤的小孩，却站出来保护着一位白皮肤的青年。她有如此的勇敢行为是离不开她本身宗教信仰和最重要的是她曾经有过暴力的经验。她了解到暴力就是暴力，没有人愿意受到伤害的，尤其是无理的暴行。由于Keshia Thomas勇敢还有她的慈悲心，那白皮肤青年的孩子随后告诉和感谢她救了他的父亲。无形中,这变成一种动力予Keshia Thomas可以继续的反抗与阻止暴行。
虽然这篇博文是取自一篇蛮久的文章,但是一篇有意思和带有启发性的文章,是必须继续流传下去来启发与提醒每个人。
感谢仁波切还有整理博文的组员,因为有你们,我们才可以看与了解更多。
_/\_ _/\_ _/\_
Thank you Rinpoche for the kind sharing on Keshia Thomas .Her unselfish act to protect the weak even though the person she saved would had never do it in return for her was a true act of compassion and generosity.
It was amazing for her to display such wisdom amidst the turmoil of hate and confusion.What she did was very wise .She manage to prevent an imminent cycle of hate if the person she tried to saved was killed in that state of confusion.More people could be hurt or even killed if there were blood shed that day.
If all of our religious and political leaders could think the same way as Keshia Thomas.Most of their differences of opinion could be solved in an amicable manner,a win win situation for all through peace and dialogue.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing. I think this story highlights that there are good natured and compassionate people all around us, if we take a moment to stop and be mindful and to remember always to treat others with respect.
This story also demonstrates that with courage and to stand up for humanity, it is perfectly all right and the right thing to do.
Humbly yours,
Lum Kok Luen
Thankyou Tsem and Team. I too, have many tears xxoo
Dear Tsem Rinpoche and folks coming to this page. Interesting story. What can I do? Well, I have shared it on my Facebook page and pasted a portion of the account where it starts to describe how it happened. I suppose it all comes down to the three poisons of greed, aversion, and ignorance, or how ever you want to express them. Plus the self cherishing. But still, when we practice to be good to our loved ones, we tend to be good to those in our closed societies, and at that moment there may develop the distinction or duality of us versus them. Even, like for example, where the us is a sangha or a church with basically the same teachings, just a different director or pastor or whatever leader is inspiring the formation of the group, versus the them, another group, possibly another sangha or religious lineage that has very little diference in doctrine, it may have evolved from the same branch and geographic location and share the same lineage teachers, etc, pracically brothers and sisters. And then something happens to split them apart, and they become enemies of each other.
And this human condition and tendency is obvious in political parties, where in order to obtain funding you have to, as a candidate, show how much you are devoted to your party by vilifying the other party, and not agreeing with them, not even being seen with them, and going to the extreme opposite of the other party, opposing all their ideas, even if one of their ideas is a good idea for the common good of the society.
And what happens when one person who has connections with both parties realizes that there is a middle way, that there may exist a path that lies between the two extremes? Then that person may get shunned by both, or has to defend themselves and try to remain quiet, or prove to one or the other that they are loyal and not a spy of the other? Sounds familiar?
I got to look at the man in the mirror and see if I can make the change.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Jairo Jamyang Pawo.
At the moment of compassion for not letting another human being to be hurt, Keisha Thomas acted to protect without distinction to whether the person was deserving or otherwise. An act from purity of compassion.
Later when she met the person’s son, she realised that she has stopped the cancerous growth of hate. Powerful what one act of compassion can be beneficial to many.
Courage to be compassionate and kind is something that all human beings must cultivate.