SuperHeroism: Black Exceptionalism Released.?..

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Black superheroism is an “ism” I’ve practiced alongside many others. My brand is costume optional but focuses on exceptional characters and cultures within the Diaspora. Icons like Toussaint L’Ouverture and Paul Robeson join generational standards like “being twice as good to get half as much” and “give a brother a rope and he wants to be a cowboy” as models for against-all- odds success. It’s really another name for Black Exceptionalism; the art and science of excelling Nadra Enzi within racially hostile societies. We have superheroes in fact and fiction from whom to draw strength. Booker T. Washington; his Tuskegee University brainchild and productive progeny bear witness to the jewels indestructible identity produces. This bleak economic era demands intensified internal inspiration. Little else seems forthcoming from elsewhere.

Everyone is his own Black superhero or heroine. One California brother freed his inner champion and became Dangerman, the Urban Superhero. Dangerman visits schools,community centers, etc. denouncing drugs and violence. He encourages literacy and inner citizen-led crime prevention. Anyone who sees him on YouTube.com knows the brother is sincere. Until more Black superheroes and heroines combat despair ugly headlines continue getting uglier. Dangerman, in his colorful blue costume, represents what the rest of us should do in our own way. Every street fight stopped or child shown positive alternatives equals one less potential tragedy.

Black folks resemble Walter Mosley’s famed PI, Easy Rawlins. The mystery before each generation is daring to combat very difficult problems. Mosley’s Paris Minton proves in every book that Black bibliophiles not only turn pages but also turn the tables on villains.

Clergy ranging from AME Church founder Richard Allen to the latest social gospel practitioner wage war against entrenched principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places nationwide. Belief in a Higher Power fuels Black superheroism. It lifts those unafraid above racist’s claws. Those afraid at least are offered real life examples of what could be. Black superheroism in fact and fiction embraces our exceptionalism. It preaches possibility in the face of prejudice and restrictions handed down like heirlooms. The choice is very clear. Slavery, cowardice, misery are all awaiting Black lives devoid of superheroics. Whether the culprit is liberalism, conservatism or whatever “ism” accused, failing to free inner champions spells doom.

Bethune Cookman College founder Mary McCloud Bethune was rumored to have held off Klansmen outside its entrance at gun point. Urban legends abound Caucasian-appearing spies infiltrating White supremacist groups throughout history. Marvel Comics Black Panther character forever changed our image in that medium. Actor Carl Weathers movie “Action Jackson” featured a star who out thought and out fought criminals as a Detroit cop swinging a law degree and world class skills. Dr. Randall Pinkett of Apprentice TV show fame captivated audiences with sheer, no-nonsense competence. One Black man’s autobiography, ” The Audacity of Hope ” propelled him to the White House. Another sits as the embattled chairman of the Republican Party- not a place for fainthearted brothers. The list of Black superheroes and heroines continues toward infinity. This part from varied cultures above all else needs popularizing.

Black superheroism is the stuff of fiction. Black superheroism is the stuff of fact. Black superheroism liberates the exceptional within ourselves… unless we’re too scared to be exceptional.

Written By Nadra Enzi

Official Websites;

http://www.captblack.info
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nadraenzi