Mutuality…

I want to take a moment and share a conversation that photographer Jack Leigh and I had many years ago. Jack was telling me about an ongoing conversation he and Mr. W. W. Law were having about the idea of mutuality. Mr. Law felt that most of what people heard about and were shown about Savannah through media of all kinds tended to show difference and separation between people, especially racially. Mr. Law’s belief was that there was much more cooperation and mutuality between people across race than was seen especially in all sorts of media.

 

Over the past couple of weeks I have had the good fortune to witness the kind of mutuality that Mr. Law was talking about. A middle-aged woman I know had a knee replacement surgery. There is little family. There are a cadre of interested allies who come and visit, bring food, talk to staff, and generally keep a sharp eye out on what is and is not happening. This little group of concerned and helpful people cross all sorts of lines in terms of race, age, class.

 

This is the grass roots mutuality that Mr. Law was talking about and took comfort in. It’s not political. It’s got nothing to do with public policy. It’s just the power of one woman to attract people from all walks of life to her side to hopefully go through life side by side.