It was raining heavily over a Target parking lot in Kenner, Louisiana.
James Varnado didn’t hesitate. He opened his umbrella and started walking from car to car, escorting women, mothers, and children who were carrying bags and had no way to cover themselves. He didn’t know any of them. He helped several unload their purchases before going back for the next one.
Deepak Saini, another customer waiting his turn under the roof, took out his phone and captured the scene. He uploaded it to Facebook with a simple idea: at that moment, it didn’t matter that he was Black and she was white, only that one human being was helping another. It was July 2016, a week marked by shootings and protests across the country, and the photo reached thousands of people within a few days.
Sometimes kindness doesn’t need to announce itself. It only needs an umbrella and someone willing to get wet for others.