City of Arlington Recognizes Student Joshua Brown for July 4th Act of Kindness
By Office of Communication
Posted on August 21, 2019, August 21, 2019

Congratulations to Hill Elementary 6th grader Joshua Brown! His small act of kindness earlier this summer during the Arlington Independence Day Parade touched the hearts of people in our community and across the nation.

On July 4th, parade goer Wendy Smith snapped a photo of Joshua as he came to the aid of Arlington Police Officer Jerrick Wilson. The Honor Guard member’s shoe had come untied during the two-mile parade route, but he couldn’t bend down to tie it while he was carrying the American flag. Joshua, attending the parade with his family, was happy to lend a hand. The heartwarming photo of Joshua kneeling to tie the police officer’s shoe was shared across the country.

The City of Arlington launched a Kindness Initiative in 2017 to help make The American Dream City a kinder place to live, work, play and learn. In recognition of the small but powerful act of kindness, the Arlington City Council proclaimed Aug. 20, 2019, as Joshua Brown Kindness Day
Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson also presented Brown with a Challenge Coin. Johnson also recognized Wilson, an active duty serviceman who is expected to be deployed this week, and Smith for her well-timed photo that resonated across the world.

“The good deed only gets told to those who get to see it. If it wasn’t for Wendy Smith taking that photograph so that we could share that act of kindness with the world, the impact would only have been felt by those at the parade and that segment of the parade at the time,” Johnson said. “It really took all three people coming together at that very unique point in time to be able to tell the caliber of just what it means to be from Arlington, Texas.”

People are encouraged to report acts of kindness that they perform, witness or were the recipient of through the City’s Ask Arlington mobile app, on the Kindness Initiative web page, or by posting on social media using #ArlingtonKindness and @CityofArlington.

Click here to read more about Acts of Kindness occurring throughout The American Dream City.

Kindness Initiative, Acts of Kindness
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