RICHMOND, Texas – It is the handshake seen around the world online by millions, earning the name "Houston Handshake" or "Houston Strong."
It was simply a "thank you" after an interview with Jamal Reynolds, a volunteer helping rescue residents in Twin Oaks off FM 1464 in Richmond.
"It don't matter if you're black, white, Hispanic, Muslim, gay, fat, skinny. It doesn’t matter," he said. "You just have to do it."
Then came that handshake, recorded and posted, shared and Tweeted. He did not think much of it, until the messages began.
"Everybody thinks that you're the sauciest man ever," he said. "I'm not going to say white man, 'cause they're starting to say you're half black. They're saying you’re half black!"
Behind that smile is a man who said he served in the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps. Helping was simply the right thing to do.
"My mother, my father, that's what they taught us to do. I didn't know any other way," he said.
The Houston handshake is now a symbol of how one man showed -- "HoustonStrong." After the viral online fame fades, he hopes people remember one thing.
"People should get out of this, just do the right thing. No matter what," he said. "I didn't know that there was going to be a news channel there. And more importantly, there were volunteers, with heart, rescuing a community."
