Louisiana teens stopped a basketball game Friday to kneel as a funeral procession went by the court outside Franklinton Junior High School and their actions are going viral.
Family members Lynn Bienvenu and Johanna Stroud said they appreciated the teens' gesture as they mourn the passing of their cousin Velma Kay Crowe and took a picture of the boys kneeling, which Bienvenu posted on her Facebook page expressing her thanks for their “impromptu display of respect,” Fox News reported.
“They took a knee not out of disrespect but honor,” Bienvenu wrote in her Facebook post. “There was not an adult insight [sic] to tell them to stop playing. This meant a great deal to our family.”
The post went viral and has been shared nearly 3,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon.
Community members praised the boys in comments on the post and eventually began to identify the boys by name, including Shimar Davis, Shimon Davis, Edward James, Brandon Burton, Quindon Burris, Stacy Ard, James Bickham, Avant Money, Kalarrian Dillon, and Malachi Martin, Fox News reported.
Local citizens said coaches and teachers have taught the students to show respect when a funeral procession passes and that boys have kneeled similarly for other processions, according to Inside Edition.
Bienvenu even said she had “heard from the boys personally,” and that some of them expressed their condolences to the family, according to an email the family sent to Fox News.
“May God bless each one as I feel they will achieve greatness,” Bienvenu wrote on Facebook.
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