The
downtrodden need to remain passionate so as not to become complacent,
without ever exploding in anger. It's not fair but it's necessary.
Like Dr. Bruce Banner, they/we need to keep an eye on our rights and walk
the edge of justified insistence when it comes to being treated
fairly--without tripping over into blind anger.
Again I admit, it's not fair but it's necessary.
It's hard to walk that line.
And change is slow moving. So, sometimes people explode. Which is so sad and brings the movement farther away from where it needs to be.
In Baltimore there were protests.
But there were also violent riots and heavy looting.
And that's why I thought of Bruce Banner.
He turns into The Hulk when he's angry, and he destroys everything in the process. His life, his city, his possibilities for a future. But if he doesn't stay at least a little bit angry then he also loses control of his life. He has to hide away from society, become useless, and be afraid of accidentally becoming angry.
A line in The Avengers film offered by Bruce Banner really resonates for me today. Throughout the movie the superheros wonder what his secret is, how it is that he mostly stays in control and doesn't turn into The Hulk. In the end, during the epic and obligatory end-of-a-Hollywood-action-movie battle, when they need The Hulk to appear and so tell Bruce to go ahead and get angry, he lets us in on his trick. "That's my secret," he says as he begins to turn green. "I'm always angry."
Now, I don't know that the downtrodden need to stay always angry. But they/we do need to stay always aware and brave. Willing to step up and insist on fairness or change, without tripping over into blind anger. It's emotionally and physically exhausting.
It's not fair.
And hopefully one day it won't be necessary.
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