What Courage Looks Like
A recent New York Times article, “Back Into Hell, Willingly, With Words of Hope,” prompted me to think about courage. The article was about the just released film Sing Sing. The story is inspired by the life experience of some of the ensemble cast members who had participated in a prison theater group. What is unusual about the cast of Sing Sing is that it includes Hollywood actors and former prison inmates. Coleman Domingo, known for his roles in The Color Purple and Rustin, was one of the actors who said yes. They filmed at the Downstate Correctional Facility in Ossining, NY—where the former inmates had served time, one as many as seventeen years.
Coleman Domingo astutely said, “We’d be accountable to each other for our own expertise. They were experts in a way that I wasn’t. There was a beautiful blending for us.”
What does it take to step into a space that is unfamiliar and unknown, or to know the dangers after having lived through the horror and still step back into that space? That was the notion of courage I was considering.
And then the horrific events at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday brought the notion of courage to a whole other realm. As reported, a lone 20-year-old gunman fired several shots from the roof of a nearby building in an attempt to assassinate former President Trump.
There was, of course, courage in the moment. Trump's Secret Service leapt to his defense, shielding him with their bodies to safeguard him from any additional harm. Their sole purpose was to get him safely off the stage and away from the source of danger.
Rally attendees found themselves in the midst of chaos, not knowing exactly what was happening, as it quickly became clear that the danger was imminent. One attendee was shot in the head and died while two others were critically wounded. It is in these moments that people's concern went beyond themselves as they looked to how they could assist others. Stories and interviews have been shared of people coming to each other’s aid, be it helping a mother and her child to take cover or giving CPR to the person shot in the head.
During his interview on Face the Nation, Democratic Representative Jason Crow of Colorado said it well: “Leadership requires that we all step back and say enough is enough.” He encourages all Americans to find someone they don’t agree with to let them know that you are not enemies. To his colleagues, he said, “Stop creating political moments and create political change.”
Courage going forward is a reset. The polarizing attitudes, behaviors, beliefs and language that have brought us to this moment need to be adjusted. Whether citizens, media, or politicians, there should be alarm at the depths of the vitriol that have become the modus operandi of interactions in the political landscape.
Courage is having difficult conversations about differences that are not laced with contempt and wrath.
Courage is ensuring that respect and empathy are the starting points of all interactions.
Courage is returning to that space of civility which has been lost, and if that space is unfamiliar, taking the time to learn what that looks like and feels like.
Perhaps one of our duties as leaders, whether civil or political, should be to strive to become experts in courage—so, similar to what Coleman Domingo said above, we can create a beautiful American blending.
