I'ma be real with you. For all my talk of detaching this persona from my real life, there are just some events that I can't avoid from resonatin' between the worlds that I operate in. You feel me? Holla at yo boy. What I'm about to discuss here hits close to home. Inspired by real life events, ya heard? I ain't frontin', this shit cuts deep and the wound's still fresh.

We all want to have that feeling of being invulnerable, right? Indestructible. Like, nothing can't faze or hurt us. Even though most of us don't wanna, we all want that feelin' like we can live forever. I know I ain't alone here, 'aight? Just the other day, I was caught off guard. Blinded by overconfident reassurance. I didn't know it then, but the dominoes kept tumblin' down. One event lead to another. Fate slipped through my hands, and I was helpless. Everything flashed before my eyes, an' all I could do was watch.

CRACK!

The sound echoed through the walls. All I could do was scream silently. One second she was with me, the next she was gone. I turned her over, and the life was snuffed from her...

"What happened?" my wife asked as she ran towards me.

"It broke," I replied, defeated. "My phone broke."

There was nothing I could do, it was all I could say. Thanks for letting me air out my grief, now... let's get to Thought Bubble Thursday.

Bereavement aside, the brittleness of my phone made me think of one of the toughest comic book heroes out there. One that can withstand any explosion, and can lift ten times his weight. A hero that stands for truth, justice and the American way. Nope, not that overpowered alien. I'm talking about a homegrown (at least in the US), blue collar, street-level bruiser straight out of the mean streets of Harlem. I'm talking about Power Man himself: Luke Cage.

WHO!?

_{Image Source}

Truth be told, I know very little about him myself. Before his Netflix series, the only things I knew about him was that he was one-half of Heroes for Hire and he has bulletproof skin. But, his eponymous series was interesting enough to make me take a deep dive on the character's history. This TBT isn't meant as a review of his series (you can check out @filotasriza3's season two review post), rather as an examination of the ideologies surrounding the character. Now, this might border on overthinking, so bear with me.

Bear?

Bear!!

I said with me, don't make me call you a fourth time!

_{Image Source}

Once you go black...

_{Image Source}

Luke Cage was created around the time of blaxploitation's popularity. It was an important time considering that it coincided with the rise of the black power movement and the drive towards racial empowerment. That was way back in the 60s, mind you, and yet the issue is still relevant to this day. Granted, huge strides have been made towards equality, but that shouldn't even be a question in this day and age. It's sad to think about the relatively slow progress, but it's even crazier to think that just a little over a century and a half ago, slavery still ran rampant.

Unlike other minority heroes, the color of Luke Cage's skin defines who he is. I would argue that he perfectly represents majority of his race, more so than heroes like Black Panther or Black Lightning. Rightfully so, since he's the first African-American hero to have his solo title. Comic books have often been used to express views on socio-political issues, and Luke Cage is the perfect fit to carry that torch. He doesn't even need to have "Black" emblazoned on his title. Everything he does exudes what he represents.

Unlike Black Panther, he isn't the ruler of a country, with riches beyond measure. Heck, he doesn't even rule his own city block. He's just an enhanced individual looking to get paid fro using his abilities. That speaks the truth for almost everyone if we were in his shoes.

You're gonna need a wheelchair!

_{Image Source}

Luke Cage has enhanced strength and nigh-invulnerable skin. It has its upsides and downsides, but it's meant to represent something even more profound. We can't be limited by the color of our skin. Having whatever hue shouldn't restrict us to specific boundaries. While his bulletproof skin has its obvious literal interpretation (talking about gun violence), it also speaks to our desire to not be hurt by figurative things that can do us harm. Whether it's pointed words or accusations, or even false information, we crave to rise above it all and move through life unscathed.

What I like about Luke Cage as a character is that he's not without faults. He gives in to temptation, popularity goes to his head and the lure of money is way too powerful to pass up. It's how he deals with everything that reflects the human experience. The down-to-earth approach with his character is a powerful vehicle in discussing real life issues that we're sometimes helpless to deal with. I do hope that people could find strength through his hero's journey, and realize that it's perfectly alright to fall. We just have to get back up every single time.

Did that short exploration pique your interest? If it did, then check Luke Cage out on Netflix after you hit the vote button below. Season One and Season Two is now available for binging. Though you would need to watch The Defenders too to fill in some gaps, in which you would need to watch Daredevil (S1 & S2), Jessica Jones (S1) and (ugh) Iron Fist (S1) for it to make sense. Man, I wish I was getting paid for all this publicity...

---

Let's make Steemit indestructible, vote for @lukestokes.mhth as a STEEM witness!

---

_{I told you I was resilient. Follow me to learn more!}