Rage

Abstract

Rage Hollee McGinnis (bio) Survival (avoidance and fear), moved to rage (acknowledgement and seeing the truth of what is), returned me to centeredness. I write: Fires out.But the embersStill glow. I don’t knowWhich wayThis will go. The fireHas consumedAll that I had to give. I am now left tired.No energy.A vague senseof dread. Rage is an alright emotion,But it tires outToo quickly. I am left empty.What else instead? [End Page 141] Eyes wide openThat things willContinue to go this way. Until we areTruly able to sayto each other: “You are myBrothers and Sisters.I would NEVERTreat you this way.” You can haveYour likes and dislikes,Your good days and bad. But pleaseSTOP KILLINGBecause you are mad. Instead, turn that rageTowards the hurt that you carry,To a culture that also says“You are not good enough for any . . .” There within youis where to beginTo learn to grow love,accepting yourself,And then each other,as family and kin. —Hollee A. McGinnis, a.k.a. Lee Hwa Yeong March 17, 2021, Atlanta Massacre [End Page 142] Hollee McGinnis hollee mcginnis, MSW, PhD, is an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in the School of Social Work. She has over twenty-five years of community, policy, and research experience on the life course of orphaned and separated children in alternative care. Prior to her doctorate at Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. McGinnis was policy director at the Donaldson Adoption Institute. She received her master of science from Columbia University School of Social Work, and a post-master’s clinical fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center. Adopted from South Korea, in 1996 she founded Also-Known-As, Inc., a non-profit adult intercountry adoptee organization. Copyright © 2022 Frontiers Editorial Collective, Inc