Courage and being proven right

July 27th, 2023

31 years ago, in a span of 2 weeks in the fall of 1992, two very important incidents happened. Things that had a great influence on me and my thinking. And I watched them both live on TV, knowing already then that I had seen something seminal and iconic and especially courageous.

First — it was Sinead O’Connor’s performance on Saturday Night Live (which was for me a required watch every Saturday night) where she tore a photo of pope John Paul II. It was shocking and unexpected and powerful and liberating to see a person slight in stature showing the commanding courage to speak up about abuses of the catholic church. It was before the internet era but her action went viral — on Sunday all the newspapers had it as leading news, and I remember on Monday at school that was the only topic everybody was talking about. And everybody was slagging her with hate for what she did. I kept quiet, I had no courage on my own.

Two weeks later, there was a concert — a tribute concert to Bob Dylan for the 30th anniversary of his career. And Sinead O’Connor was scheduled to appear and she did — with the boos and abuse raining on her from every direction from the crowd. And she stood there, quiet but defiant against the angry and hysterical mob. She didn’t blink, she didn’t apologize, she stayed strong and courageous. Kris Kristofferson walked on stage and went and put his arm around her facing the crowd until boos and shouts and curses stopped and she could perform. He was the only man with courage there among the legends of music who gathered for this concert to show support.

Two incidents put an end to any potential stardom for Sinead O’Connor. She knew it when she decided to do what she did. And she did it anyway, showing unbelievable courage in the face of violent religious fundamentalism and the institutionalized cover-up of child sex abuse by the catholic church. Her life has been more or less hellish since then and may she finally rest in peace. Over those 31 years since then, she was proven right — the abuses and the cover-ups were unmasked, at least on a small scale, but it is a good start. Her fierce courage paved the way for others to get the strength to speak up and demand justice. Her courage led to real change.

I wasn’t expecting it and I am rather ambivalent towards celebrities and death, but looking at the photo above of Sinead and Kris brought tears to my eyes just now…