The Lifeblood of Unity: A Tribute to an Unknown Savior
The Lifeblood of Unity: A Tribute to an Unknown Savior In my family, we tell a story that defines everything I believe about Public Unity . When my brother Lonnie and I were born in 1953, he was fading. He needed a transfusion to survive his very first day. Per our family history, he was only saved because a single Black woman — a stranger whose name we never knew — stepped forward and gave him her blood. She didn’t ask about our status. She didn’t look at our labels. She saw a child fighting for his first breath, and she gave of herself so he could have a second. A Debt We Owe to the Vulnerable This woman, navigating the systemic hardships of the 1950s, became the silent architect of our family’s future. Her act was a “God thing” — a pure, synchronized moment of humanity that ignored every “man-made sickness” of division, race, and class. If a stranger’s kindness secured Lonnie’s survival, then how can we as a nation justify the barriers we build today? When I s...