Does the name Thomas Moore ring a bell to you? If not, no worries–before a few weeks ago, I’d never heard of him either.

He’d probably want it that way. 

The year was 1968, and the Memphis Sanitation Strike was going strong. On March 22nd, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was scheduled to spearhead a protest in support of the strike, but his plans were foiled by record-breaking snowfall; over 16 inches of snow covered the city! Naturally, the demonstrators chose to stay home. 

Everyone but Thomas Moore. 

Fitted with a homemade protest sign (saying “Do Right, Mr. Mayor!) and bundled up from head to toe, Moore showed up in front of City Hall to march. Alone.  

To be clear, Moore wouldn’t have called himself a hero. 

He was a white man joining a Black-led cause for an issue that disproportionately affected Black sanitation workers–he’s not the center here. His story isn’t recounted in tons of history books or celebrated on a holiday. Yet, he demonstrated a concept so powerful that I’ve been thinking about it ever since I read about him a few weeks ago.

He may have been the only one marching in front of City Hall that day, but in his show of solidarity, he wasn’t actually alone. Whenever you use what you have to do something–anything–in support of a cause you believe in, you’re walking in tandem with countless others who believe the same. 

Solidarity may ask you to speak up for a coworker who’s voice is often spoken over, or to be the one “troublemaker” calling out toxicity in your community. 

Solidarity may cause you to lose a friend or a few Instagram followers or some sleep at night. Solidarity may have you feeling like you’re the only one who sees, or notices, or cares. 

Solidarity may feel like you’re standing alone, but you aren’t–not really, anyway.

You’re connected to a collective of people who know how difficult it would be to live with ourselves if we didn’t do what we know we ought to do–and it’s this realization that propels the everyday person with a passion for justice to have powerful, undeniable impact.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like good company to me.