The first edition of L.Frank Baum's masterpiece, published in 1900.
"But how about my courage?" asked the Lion, anxiously. "You have plenty of courage, I am sure," answered Oz. "All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty."
-L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Three young men and a young woman are conversing in the sauna about Renee Nicole Good's murder in Minneapolis. It's mid-day, lunch time, arctic cold, but the sauna is warm and warming as voices are raised. "She deserved it," one of the men says. "I would have shot her, too," says another.
I was swimming laps and did not witness the beginning of this encounter, but when I surfaced onto the deck, one of the men and the young woman were sitting on chairs close-to, their voices raised. At first I thought they were flirting, so I said, teasingly, "You seem to be having an intense conversation." I was mistaken.The man looked stunned, the woman annoyed that I had interrupted.
In the safety of the locker room, I asked the young woman—who I shall call Flo here to protect her identity—what had happened, thus the quotes in the first paragraph. Where had she found the courage to take these men on, I wondered? What had she said to them? I gave her my card, explained that I was a journalist, and suggested we meet for a coffee. She agreed.
Unfortunately, this is not going to be a story with definitive answers to my questions. After an hour with Flo, a deep dive into her backstory, her work, her boyfriend, her childhood, I can only surmise the source of her courage and activism: professional supportive parents, an "elite" education without the specter of debt, a solid job. Whereas the men she had encountered in the sauna? What was their backstory? Where had they gone to school? How had they been parented? Were they employed? These questions are "begging" questions; the answers to them are equally important.
Flo did not blame or shame the men; she engaged them, she kept her voice steady and she felt calm. Except for the man who followed her out of the sauna to continue the conversation, there is no way of knowing what, if anything, had shifted in their "thinking," or if they even cared. There had been machismo, too; they had been showing off to each other, egging each other on, like a mob.
Flo remains undaunted. That very week she signed up for Rapid Response in Ulster County to protect our local immigrant population.
"O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in't," says Miranda in Shakespeare's, The Tempest. Miranda is a mediator, an empathetic figure who wants to quiet the raging storm her father, the vengeful Prospero, Duke of Milan, has unleashed to shipwreck his enemies. Flo is her descendant. These women are brave, they are admirable, they are to be supported and cherished.
This post is dedicated to the courageous Americans out on the streets singing as they march.