Although Carter’s definition seems to be clear enough, understanding how to distinguish integrity from those who do not possess it can sometimes seem impossible in a society where we determine a person’s worth by their salary, number of likes on a social media post, or followers on their platform. However, fictional superhero characters like Sam provide me and others with a model that may be missing in reality.
            On this last day of Black History Month, Sam has helped me discern the difference between what is right, what is easy, and what it means to blindly follow the rules. Sometimes, the laws are corrupt because the people who created them were flawed. Sometimes, this means choosing to fight a battle that will get you into, “Good trouble,” as the late John Lewis called it. This also means acting on it, even at the risk of personal cost whether it be financially or socially. It means taking a risk to battle even if the world tells you you’re wrong. To tell them what you are doing to inspire others. Many times, this battle will be fought alone and in secret, but it will create a more just world.
            It’s because of fictional superheroes like Sam Wilson (Captain America), Isaiah Bradley (Captain America), John Stewart (Green Lantern), Calvin Ellis (Superman of Earth-23), Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning), and countless others that I continue to write and speak for survivors when the world tells me to remain silent. To do what is easy rather than what is right. Unfortunately, this is the only way I know to continue being a good man, and a good person in a world where my only superpower is believing that we can be better.