I’m in a strange place right now. Politics. My country. Justice. Competence and excellence for my beloved nonprofit sector. Whatever…
ANGER. And, of course, how about anger management.
Lots of statements – often directed at women – “curb your anger…”
But then I read “Why Tinkerbell Quit Anger Management.” A poem in a book called Fierce Fairytales, by Nikita Gill. Why did Tinkerbell quit anger management? “Because whole kingdoms have already spent millennia trying to keep women subdued, only to be discarded in old age.”
I searched “telling women to top being angry” on the Internet. Tons & tons & tons of articles…. Here are a few of my favorite titles:
- Stop telling women to be confident. Tell them to get angry.
- Rage becomes her
- Why women don’t get to be angry
- How women and minorities are claiming their right to rage
- I used to insist I didn’t get angry. Not anymore.
And as long as I’m on the subject of anger. How about we acknowledge and honor the anger of people of color, too? I’ve said it before…Read Ta Nehisi Coates books. See his marvelous articles in The Atlantic. Find so many other righteous books and articles. Read Peggy McIntosh’s Invisible Knapsack of sooooo many years ago.
Not enough progress. Too damn little change.
And even in our own beloved philanthropic sector. We’re supposed to be better. See my own Philanthropy’s Moral Dilemma.
Am I more angry or more sad? Am I equally angry and sad?
Looking back to why Tinkerbell quit anger management…
I had to give up on their remedies. They kept trying to make me less angry, but I refuse to surrent my rage. Because who kingdoms have already spent millenia trying to keep women subdued, only to be discard in old age.
My fury gets things done, it has saved lives, it has made the world listen where I could not speak, my anger screamed.
….So no I love my tinderbox heart so easy to light up, all it takes is half a spark
I am small and I am angry, it is how I channel my energy and I like me that way.
Thank you Nikita Gill.
I am angry and will continue to channel my anger and speak it and share it.
I am deeply deeply sad. And still see to manage it.
