What This Old Man Did Inspired A Community (TWEETS)

DeSoto, Texas, is a suburb of Dallas, and the majority of residents who live there are African American. Last Friday night, the cheerleaders from the high school football game between DeSoto and Cedar Hills high schools knelt during the national anthem to protest the treatment of people of color by police in the United States.

On Tuesday, the DeSoto High School girls’ volleyball team also knelt during the anthem.

Both acts did not go unnoticed, and the students received a large amount of backlash from the surrounding communities.

Enter Albert Woolum.

Al Woolum is a white Navy veteran who heard about the students’ protests and was shocked to see the hatred they experienced in response to it. So he decided to do something.

Woolum found out when and where the DeSoto volleyball team was playing next, and showed up in a Navy cap and wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt.

When the national anthem began to play, he did this:

https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/780181632233959424

As you can see in the picture on the left, all Al Woolum did was take a knee. But he did so much more than that. He showed that he was there for those girls, and that he heard their voices.

The players on the team were so touched that they all went over to shake his hand.

When asked why he did it, Woolum said:

“The decision they made to kneel at their last game, they caught a lot of flak for that. I saw that on the news. I looked when their next game was, and I came to support them to let them know somebody in the white community cares.”

A small decision, a small movement, and so many lives touched. Woolum received a lot of social media love for his act:

Way to go, Al Woolum. Thank you for your service, in more ways than one.

Featured Image: Screenshot Via Twitter