#554 The Token Superhero- David F. Walker
Parents often have contradictory hopes for their children.
On one hand they want them to be safe, normal, comfortable, but they also want
them to be extraordinary, better than they were and someone that helps make the
world better. Kelvin Ramey is in such a quandary. His son Alonzo is a
superhero, and as much as Kelvin wants to be proud of him, he is worried that
he will be in danger.
“Daddy K, are you really going to be angry that our son was
blessed with wings and has decided to use them to fly?”
A genetic anomaly called K-24 has given superpower mutation
to a select few in society. Most of the power are called “Standards” like
extreme strength, speed, and bullet proof skin. But some have developed even
more anomalous mutations that are uncontrollable. Kelvin is happy that Alonzo
is a “Standard” because he believes that the world would look unkindly to a
black man with super-human abilities. As it is, he is unhappy that his son will
be part of a force called the Teen Justice Force, worried that Alonzo will
become a tool for “The Man.”
Exploitation of Alonzo manifested itself first in his name,
The Black Fist. He was also the only member of the force not to get his own
comic series or an action figure.
“At the age of twenty, Alonzo was already bitter, cynical,
and tired of being a token. He tried to reinvent himself, with a new costume
and a new name, but none of it took. Twice he’d been attacked by other
superheroes who’d mistaken him for a supervillain, and then there was the time
he’d been shot by cops. Fortunately the bullets had bounced off.”
There is some pretty good satire here. And like most super
hero stories there is a few good lessons to learn about symbolism, identity,
and materialism…and that’s one to grow on.
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