Gandalf once said that “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay…small acts of kindness.” This is a very good representation of Alison Howard’s essay as she acknowledges that fact that she is “not going to change anything” after trying her best to blend in and to fight racism. An example of Alison attempting to behave like the Venda ladies is by being “the only white person in town who walks everywhere as they do”. She also learns to enjoy walking in the rain instead of running from it, as she has “never not quickened [her] pace in the rain”, as she used to try to protect her pretty outfit and leather handbag. She now tries to attempt to humble herself and to be like the ladies around her, and by not putting herself up on a pedestal by driving around in a car, wearing fancy clothes, or running away from the rain. However, on the walk home, a white man in a car pulled up beside her telling her to get in the car. She considered this an act of racism as out of twenty people, he picked her to get in the car. She wondered why and came to the conclusion that it was because she is “white and it’s about race. Everything is about race here.” After the occurrence of all these events, she came to realize that she is “not going to change anything. But I believe it matters in some infinitesimal way that people like the Venda women, and the dozens of people who may walk alongside me on any given day, know that I’m there.” One example in the world that can relate to Gandalf’s quote is trust. Trust is not gained all at once, in a matter of hours, or through one big action. The amount of trust builds every second, every minute and every hour. We cannot buy trust, its earned and it is a slow process, but “it is in the small everyday deeds” that builds that trust that we have for each other