I think the word anger gets a bad rap. Anger is a feeling, not an action. Sure, aggression or hostility can emerge from anger, but anger itself is a motivating emotion.

The American Psychological Association defines anger as “an emotion characterized by tension and hostility arising from frustration, real or imagined injury by another, or perceived injustice”. The danger in suppressing anger is acceptance, or passivity, to the injustice; tolerance or numbness to the threat. The issue is not anger itself; it’s how we manage it.

I’ve been listening to various podcasts with guests who are authors and activists from places such as Russia, Poland, and Hungary. A common theme they all express is the slow and steady, yet seemingly passive, acceptance of authoritarian regimes. There isn’t one day that the leader announces, “We crossed the line. We are now an authoritarian government.” No, it happens a little more every day, and the barrage of attacks on democracy is so fast and so egregious that the whole point is to numb and overwhelm. One of the authors bluntly stated (I’m paraphrasing), “I know it’s hard and fatiguing, but we have to stay angry“. I can’t stop thinking about that.

The elimination of DEI in our government and around our nation is a blatant attempt to erase the progress towards equality that we have made in the past 60 years. We need to stay angry about this.

The banning of transgender people in the military and the brazen pronouncement that there are only two sexes: male or female, defies science and is an overt attempt to erase the existence of a small but real portion of our population. We need to stay angry about this.

Pardoning over 1500 J6 rioters, including those who injured law enforcement, sends the very clear message to the most aggressive of the MAGA movement that their violent means to grab power will be honored. We need to stay angry about this.

The creation of DOGE, which ended critical funding for US AID, rendering millions of vulnerable children hungry and disease-ridden, is simply unfathomable. Estimates place the number of potential deaths over the next 15 years at 25 million people. Literal blood on the hands of DOGE and the Trump administration. We need to stay angry about this.

The audacious attempt to end birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, has its roots in replacement theory and racial purity. It’s disgusting. We need to stay angry about this.

Removing people without due process to foreign prisons, notorious for inhumane conditions and torture, is a very dangerous and slippery slope. None of us is immune. We need to stay angry about this.

Calling in the National Guard, and now the Marines, to “quell” what are mostly peaceful protests (and those that are not are within the purview and capabilities of local law enforcement) is an unabashed attempt to develop a situation into a manufactured crisis. This action is an act of aggression, not peace. We need to stay angry about this.

I can go on and on. But that’s the problem. It’s something new every day. The headlines change so fast, no one can keep up. Ultimately, then, we become numb to the endless attacks on personal liberty, freedom, and democracy itself. And numbness is the hallmark of passivity.

We don’t lose our democracy in a day…but we do lose it a little more each day that we deny our anger, or fail to be angry at all.

I’ll close with a more lighthearted take on anger: The infamous scene from the American Classic, “The Three Amigos”.

Lucky Day: Wherever there is injustice, you will find us.

Ned Nederlander: Wherever there is suffering, we’ll be there.

Dusty Bottoms: Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find… The Three Amigos!

Feel the injustice, find the suffering, see the loss of liberty…be angry. And then GO. Do the work. Don’t give up.

PS: Ways You Can Channel Your Anger Into Constructive Action

1. Use the 5 Calls app to contact your representatives. They provide a script and autopopulate the phone numbers of your reps. I’ve done this countless times now. It’s ridiculously easy.
2. Join a local organization that is passionate about a cause that excites you. There are advocacy groups for nearly every cause. Go to their meetings. Sign up for their newsletters. Donate a small amount of money. Volunteer your time.
3. Read and read and read to arm yourself with knowledge. Choose your sources wisely. Fox “News” is not one of them.
4. Listen to podcasts. Again, learn something. A few ideas to start:
   • NYT: The Daily
   • The Ezra Klein Show
   • NYT: The Opinions
   • NYT: Interesting Times
   • One Nation Indivible-Andrew Seidel
   • Pod Save America
   • The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
5. Vote.
6. Use your social media wisely. It won’t change anyone’s mind, and it will inflame people.

Disclaimer: My viewpoints are not necessarily reflective of my employer, or any local, regional or national organization that I belong to. As a matter of fact, I pretty much just speak for myself. Please keep that in mind.