One of the many, many tropes in comic books is that most superheroes have a secret identity. Often, the work the superhero does in her or his “other life” is something out of the ordinary – a newspaper reporter, a billionaire, a doctor and so forth. This is not true in the case of Black Lightning, one of the first African American superheroes.
Jefferson Pierce is Black Lightning’s secret identity and Jefferson Pierce has one of the most recognizable professions of them all.
Jefferson Pierce is a teacher.
I remember discovering this as a kid and thinking, well, nothing. As a kid, the secret identity of superheroes did not interest me as much as their costumed identity by a long shot. That Black Lightning was a high school teacher did not matter much to me.
It does now. I love the idea that Jefferson Pierce is heroic in both parts of his life, for teaching is truly heroic and, as I re-read some of his adventures, I love when writers pay attention to that. In one comic he says something to the effect of “if you’ve survived a group of high schoolers reading MacBeth, you can do anything.”
Agreed, Black LIghtning. Agreed.
We never know the influence we have… While culture tends to promulgate the “those who can, do, those who cannot, teach” idiocy, there are hundreds of examples of brilliance and impactful teachers in reality and in pop culture. Every-other-week this year, I will share my brief reflections on Smart People Doing Smart Things be they in literature, in film, in music or in real life. Many will be teachers, but not all. Many will be fictional, but some will be real. All will be inspiring. Welcome to IntelliPop!
