Kendra Powell was on her way to work one morning in Georgia when a strange scene caught her eye. A state trooper vehicle was parked on the side of the road with its trunk open, but no one was there.
Despite the ongoing issues between police officers and people of color at the time, Kendra felt a strong urge to check on the car.
Kendra is fully aware of the racial tension happening throughout the country, so she knew she had to be extra careful when interacting with law enforcement officers.
“I creeped past at a snail’s pace and turned around. I pulled up to the car and cracked my window, hands clearly visible,” Kendra wrote in a story submitted to Love What Matters.
Then, she saw a white trooper come from the side of the car. Kendra greeted him with a warm” good morning” before asking if he was okay or needed any help.
The cop smiled and replied, “No, ma’am.” Turns out, he was just cleaning his windows. He showed her the bottle and towels, and Kendra told him he had the good stuff.
The officer chuckled and, much to her surprise, asked if she minded if he would clean hers too. Kendra said he didn’t have to do that, but the kind officer insisted.
“Highlight of my day…state trooper cleaning my windows with the good Rain X cleaner. Every passerby had a stunned expression on their faces,” Kendra said.
A few moments later, an elderly white couple stopped by and asked the kind officer if he could clean theirs too. The cop agreed and proceeded to clean their windows.
The lady offered to pay him, but the officer refused and asked for something else: a prayer.
And that’s exactly what the group did.
“Right along 46 in the wee hours of the morning parked beside the road for EVERYONE to see, we all linked hands and had prayer. White hands, black hands, officer hands, young hands, and old hands…gave glory like never before,” Kendra shared.
She came in late for work that day, but for Kendra, it was truly worth it.
“Couldn’t ask for a better way to start my day,” she said.
That touching incident warmed Kendra’s heart so much that she knew it must be heard by many, especially with everything that’s been going on.
She submitted the story to Love What Matters, and it turns out she was right. Many people resonated with it, and the post blew up quickly on social media, getting 946K reactions and 316K shares.
Thousands of people left comments on the post, thanking Kendra for sharing her encounter with the police officer.
“Thank you for your story my husband is a policeman, and cares so much for our community, he has only ever wanted to serve and do good no matter who you are,” one wrote.
“What a beautiful story and what a beautiful person you are Kendra Powell! The picture in my mind of all of you praying on the roadside has become my prayer for our nation!” another commented.
There have been plenty of reported incidents of police using brute force toward people of color, creating a lot of hostility between these two communities. Undoubtedly, there’s still a lot to be changed in the system.
Kendra’s story resonated with many because it brought hope to a country divided by these social issues.
Four people of varying gender, age, and colors coming together—with no thought of their differences—is something we would all like to see happening throughout the country. While that might seem like an elusive dream for now, our hope that it will come true one day will never die.
This story happened five years ago, but it’s still as relevant today.
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