The Black Panther, The Waffle House Hero, and Doing What’s Right.
Hero is what we call people who can do what’s right in the face of seemingly insurmountable opposition. Chadwick Boseman had the great honor of playing this year’s most impressive and impactful hero, Black Panther, on the big screen. However, while receiving the “Best Hero Award” at the MTV Movie & TV awards, he took the time to recognize another hero of the year, James Shaw Jr. Now affectionately known as the Waffle House hero, Shaw bravely fought off a gunman during an attack at a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee back in April. The shooting left four people dead and others wounded, including Shaw.
Boseman received his award, and then graciously passed it on to Shaw, stating, “Receiving an award for playing a superhero is amazing, but it is even greater to acknowledge the heroes that we have in real life.”
In a heartfelt and extraordinary moment, big screen Hollywood and the real world came crashing together.
In interviews immediately following the shooting, Shaw found the publicity and profound amounts of gratitude overwhelming. He said, “I’d rather you regard me as James, you know just a regular person. Because I feel like everybody can do pretty much what I did.” Mr. Shaw could be right. Maybe anyone could have done what he did on the day of the shooting.
Very few, however, would have done what he did in the days after. Fewer still, would do what Boseman did on stage last week. True heroism isn’t defined by singular panicked moments punctuated by gunfire, or explosions, or terror. Being a hero means doing what is right — at all times and in all circumstances.
Chadwick Boseman isn’t a hero because he portrays a hero on screen, or because of his fame or talent. He is a hero because he took the opportunity to highlight the honorable actions of another young man. He had the wherewithal to take the spotlight off of himself in a moment meant to celebrate his own accomplishments, and instead shine it on someone else more deserving of accolades. He is a hero because of his modesty, his social consciousness, and his poise.
James Shaw Jr. is a hero because he thinks what he did is what everyone should do or could do. He is a hero because in the days following the shooting he leveraged his story to raise more than $220,000 for the families of the victims. He is a hero because he downplays his own actions and celebrity and instead he lifts the spirits of others.
True heroes aren’t hard to find. They are out there, quietly doing the right thing every single day.
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