How to Channel Divine Rage for a Better World

I think of the divides to heal in my own family and what conversations I could start to make things better.

Valerie Kaur, a leader, civil rights activist, lawyer and award-winning filmmaker, released a brief and inspiring video following the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In it, she speaks of the outrage that so many of us felt as we watched the assault on one of our most treasured national spaces by white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and thugs. Violent insurgents egged on by the President himself. Mostly white males, who weren’t being sprayed back with a wave of bullets the way Black men would have been.

Kaur called what we were experiencing “Divine Rage.”

In a nation where rage is considered threatening, Kaur gives us permission to feel and experience this kind of rage. The flashing of the eyes, the rapid heart-rate, the guttural “NO!” that many experienced watching the events of January 6th unfold.

Divine Rage calls us into action. It invites us into courage and bravery on behalf of our nation, our communities, our families. “The aim of Divine Rage is not vengeance,” says Kaur. “It is to reorder the world. Our task is to harness our rage. To channel that rage into creative, non-violent reform.”