Righteous Embodied Anger: A Force for Clarity and Change
Anger - often misunderstood, frequently dismissed, yet deeply informative. As Audre Lorde powerfully articulated, "Anger is loaded with information and energy." What might we discover if we approach anger not as something to be suppressed or feared, but as a messenger carrying vital intelligence?
The Protective Function of Anger
When we experience anger, our bodies are often signaling a violation. Something fundamental has been breached - a boundary crossed, a value compromised, a need unmet. This protective mechanism serves as an internal alarm system, alerting us to threats both external and internal.
As Lorde elaborates, "Anger expressed and translated into action in the service of our vision and our future is a liberating and strengthening act of clarification." Through this lens, anger becomes not merely reactive but revelatory - showing us what matters most to us and demanding we pay attention.
The Intelligence Within Anger
Anger provides critical insights:
Recognition of boundaries that have been violated
Awareness of pain that has been suppressed or ignored
These signals carry profound wisdom. When we feel anger rising at an injustice, our moral compass is operating. When we feel fury at exploitation, our sense of human dignity is speaking. When we feel outrage at abuse of power, our commitment to fairness is demanding attention.
Boundaries and the Body: A Somatic Understanding
Our boundaries are fundamentally somatic - experienced and expressed through our bodies. As Abigail Rose Clarke notes, much like a cell membrane that selectively allows substances to pass through, our skin functions as "one of our first boundaries of relations with the world." This permeability is not a weakness but a necessity for life and relationship.
Our responses to boundary violations are deeply connected to our primal survival instincts, rooted in the ancient brainstem. Jo Miller offers a helpful metaphor: "Imagine boundaries as saloon doors swinging back and forth, allowing some things to pass through while blocking others." These dynamic, responsive systems are designed to protect our wellbeing.
Reclaiming Anger: A Personal Journey
For those from marginalized groups, particularly Black women, anger has been pathologized and used as a weapon of dismissal. The journey of reclaiming anger is both personal and political.
The powerful personal testimony included in the notes reveals how societal conditioning taught that anger was "dangerous, unacceptable, and simply not permissible." This suppression became internalized, hiding authentic feelings and responses.
The breakthrough came through somatic awareness - recognizing tension in the jaw as anger manifesting physically. With guidance, this anger revealed its true message: "PROTECT." This revelation transformed understanding, showing that anger serves a protective function by triggering the fight response when necessary.
Completing the Cycle
Many of us have been taught to interrupt the natural cycle of anger - to suppress it before it can deliver its message and complete its course. This interruption doesn't make anger disappear; it simply redirects it, often inward, where it can manifest as depression, physical illness, or disconnection from self.
To fully integrate the wisdom of anger requires allowing it to move through us completely. This doesn't mean acting on every angry impulse, but rather creating space to feel it fully, understand its message, and consciously choose how to respond. The completion of this cycle prevents us from getting stuck in chronic anger states.
The Systemic Dimensions of Anger
Some anger arises not merely from personal slights but from systemic injustice. As noted in the reflection on Black women's emotional labor, this anger resonates with Solange's lyric, "I got a lot to be mad about." Righteous anger in response to oppression isn't pathological - it's an appropriate response to harmful conditions.
This collective dimension of anger can be particularly powerful when recognized and channeled. It connects individual experience to broader struggles for justice, transforming personal pain into political awareness and collective action.
From Suppression to Liberation
When we suppress anger, we risk blocking not only this emotion but many others - including joy and pleasure. The energy required to contain anger depletes the resources available for full engagement with life. By contrast, when we acknowledge and process anger, it can become a powerful motivator, clarifying our values and providing the energy needed to express and defend them.
Righteous embodied anger offers a pathway to greater authenticity, deeper connections, and more effective action for change. By listening to anger's messages, honoring its protective function, and channeling its energy wisely, we reclaim a vital aspect of our humanity that has too often been denied or distorted.
The question remains for each of us: How are we with anger? Is suppressed anger blocking our joy and pleasure? Perhaps it's time to give anger the space it deserves and listen carefully to what it has to tell us.