The Dallas Morning News
February 14, 2025
Today, We Celebrate Kindness in Dallas
We can make kindness the heartbeat of our city, just like three decades ago
By Kyle Ogden
In early 1994, a group of Dallas leaders formed a committee to establish a Dallas Acts Kind Week for the week of Feb. 14, 1995. The idea came to friends and longtime Dallas residents Dee Silverstein and Jackie Waldman after watching the movie Schindler's List.
Inspired by the true story of Oskar Schindler's lifesaving kindness in the midst of burning hatred, Silverstein and Waldman recruited Jim McCormick and other friends to join them in what became the first movement of its kind.
Together, they established subcommittees to plan a week of events throughout the city involving the Dallas Police Department (which issued "kindness tickets"), schools, businesses and many others. The crowning achievement was bringing Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King III, W. Deen Mohammed and other dignitaries to a major event hosted at Thanks-Giving Square. It was a phenomenal success.
Today, we are commemorating the 30th anniversary of that eventful week with the Dallas Acts Kind 30th Anniversary Celebration. We will livestream an awards ceremony recognizing those original founders, and we will announce a plan to resurrect kindness in our city with an annual kindness festival to be held each November.
Kindness is a cornerstone of thriving societies. It enriches individual lives and strengthens communal ties. When kindness becomes a collective value, it not only improves life for individuals but transforms communities into more compassionate, inclusive and connected spaces.
Often dismissed as a simple, personal virtue, the impact of kindness reaches far beyond individual acts. By prioritizing kindness, we invest in a better quality of life for all. Kindness catalyzes positive change that ripples through our lives and communities in countless ways:
It improves mental and physical health. It reduces stress, enhances happiness and promotes overall well-being for both the giver and receiver.
Kindness breaks down barriers, increases trust and cooperation, and encourages collective action.
Acts of kindness create deeper connections and stronger social bonds by inspiring others to pay it forward and build a sense of belonging.
It also reduces polarization and facilitates dialogue, making it easier to find common ground and resolve conflict.
Imagine public life infused with kindness: safer spaces, stronger support networks and a renewed sense of neighborliness. Kindness has the power to transform not just individual lives, but entire communities.
To make kindness a core civic virtue, we must integrate it into our cultural, educational and institutional frameworks. Here's how we can start:
Teach kindness early. Social-emotional learning in schools should emphasize empathy, respect and compassion alongside academics.
Model kindness. Leaders in government, business and community organizations must demonstrate kindness in their actions and policies.
Make kindness a habit. Encourage daily acts of kindness through intentionality, repetition and reflection.
Celebrate kindness. Publicly recognize and reward acts of kindness to inspire others and reinforce positive behavior.
In our culture, trends often shape behavior. What if kindness were celebrated as "cool"? What if acts of compassion and generosity were as admired as material success or social media fame? By reframing kindness as aspirational, we could foster a culture where empathy and connection become status symbols.
Social media can play a pivotal role in this transformation. Stories of kindness could go viral, inspiring others to follow suit. Challenges like #KindnessWeek could replace divisive trends, uniting people in a shared commitment to making the world a better place.
The challenges we face today—social inequality, political polarization and climate change—demand collective action and shared responsibility. Kindness is the thread that can weave our efforts together and create a stronger, more resilient society. But this vision requires all of us to act.
Today, let's commemorate the 30th anniversary of Dallas Acts Kind Week by recommitting to kindness as a guiding principle. Treat your neighbor with generosity, advocate for compassionate policies and take steps to make kindness a habit in your daily life. Together, we can make kindness the heartbeat of our civic culture.
Kyle Ogden is president and CEO of the Thanks-Giving Foundation