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Compassion as a 'Defiant Social Action': A Response to The Beauty in Breaking
March 25, 2022
By Samantha Johnson
Vulnerability and broken things portray the complexity of humanity. Throughout all of human history we have relied on leaders who are willing to shoulder a greater burden than the average person. Far too often we rely on the extraordinary few to go above and beyond. In her New York Times best-selling memoir, The Beauty in Breaking, Dr. Michele Harper articulates to readers the tightrope she walks between self-preservation and healing not only her patients, but the world.
Dr. Harper shares her lived experiences, which offer us a window into the exhausting life of a Black woman and ER physician. We read of her countless instances of taking the high road, choosing to heal patients, even when it is difficult and even when her personal safety is threatened. Harper expends her personal time and energy to meet other people where they are, and doesn’t often get the same courtesy. The importance of her stories lies in the fact that we as a society rely on our heroes, and particularly on individuals who have already had to overcome significant hardship, to see ‘the beauty in breaking.’ Doctor Harper wants us to see how far one often must reach (some much further than others) to find said beauty. The health of our entire society depends on the people who are willing to exceed expectations to fill in gaps. We see time and time again through her experiences how Harper was pushed beyond her limits of what should reasonably be expected of a person. Throughout her stories, there were many instances where she could have walked away, where someone else likely would have given up. One anecdote where Harper highlights this truth is the situation she experienced with Dominic and her resident, Lauren. When Dominic is brought into her Emergency Room by police and does not want to receive a medical examination, Harper honors his bodily autonomy even though her colleagues want to force their ‘prisoner’ into accepting medical treatment.
Harper, doing her job correctly, reminded her peers of his humanity and in return faced disrespect from the officers and Lauren. Harper recalls, “I sat still at my computer, attempting to breathe in for a count of three and out for a count of six… to dampen the disgust as my anger mounted - anger that my resident, my privileged, highly educated white female resident had felt comfortable being so disrespectful as to dismiss my judgment on this matter” (108). This instance of microaggression exemplifies the disproportionate expectations we have for Black women like Harper. Not only was Harper responsible for making sure her colleagues followed the law, but then she experienced resistance and judgment for doing the correct thing - and received no semblance of an apology. Additionally, Harper was responsible for maintaining pleasant professionalism even whilst being mistreated. Although implicit, we see a heavy, metaphorical weight placed on Harper as she is the one who must resolve the situation and take the high road. In her recounting of the story, Harper continues on to say, “what we had just experienced had offered an opportunity for all of us to recognize that America bears not just scars, but many layers of racial wounds, both chronic and acute. In order to move beyond them, we need to look at what they are, diagnose them, heal them, and then take care not to pick at the scabs, reopening the old wounds and creating new ones” (110).
It is clear that Harper is using learned patience and optimism to respond gracefully to a triggering situation, something that the other parties involved were incapable of doing. She manages to find the [rather forced] bright side, the ‘beauty in breaking’ in order to provide compassionate care for Dominic, call attention to systemic racism, and to cope with the frustrating situation she just experienced. We see similar predicaments affect Harper throughout her memoir. She details several situations with patients, like Vickie, a woman who comes in for mental health discharge clearance, but ends up having a therapeutic conversation with Harper about her experiences as a victim of sexual assault in the military. Harper herself recalls that it was not necessarily her job to venture to a deeper emotional level with Vickie, but intuition indicated to her Vickie’s need to share (151). Similarly, we see Harper respond with extraordinary compassion when she chooses to hug Joshua, a patient who has just received a terminal cancer diagnosis, even though physical affection is usually outside of her professional boundaries as a physician (198). As a result of her dedication to personal growth and healing following difficult experiences and trauma, Harper has honed a sharp sense of empathy and has selflessly used it to better heal those around her. She describes how she steps beyond her role as just a physician and often does more than what another doctor might choose to do in the same situation.
We also see that while Harper often chooses to do more, she is also frequently forced to endure more. In addition to the microaggressions detailed in Chapter Five, Harper encounters the systemic racism at play in hospital administrative hierarchies. At several points in her memoir, Harper recalls her various supervisors' failures to promote her to any significant leadership positions. As a talented young doctor, Harper quickly climbs the ranks to minor leadership roles, but finds herself face to face with a thick glass ceiling. Harper decides to leave her struggles to advance to higher administrative roles behind in order to refocus on what she is most passionate about: healing others (141). This is a noble choice on Harper’s part. Her level of introspection to notice what she finds most fulfilling is impressive. In spite of this, it is difficult not to feel the frustration that Harper missed the opportunity to truly choose to turn down the senior leadership roles because she was not offered them, regardless of what she may have rightfully earned. As a reader, it feels natural to commend Harper for her management of several of the situations she recounts in her book. She shares vulnerable and eloquent words with us that are worthy of admiration, but Dr. Harper’s memoir requires more of the reader than just appreciation.
It is essential that we not only commend, but also understand the complexities and the added burden of being not only a leader, but a Black woman in medicine. So, in all of her beautiful recollections of these broken stories, what does Harper want for us as readers to take with us? Early in her memoir, Harper addresses her childhood self, saying, “speak these truths aloud, for it is only in silence that horror can persist. The courage to call a thing by its true name galvanizes the human spirit to address it” (9). Harper’s beautiful, broken stories call attention to pain and injustice and beg for nuanced interpretation from the reader. Her poignant anecdotes highlight the importance of acting with patience, empathy, and compassion in the workplace. Without leaders who are willing to look past just what is required of them, we would inevitably miss several opportunities to improve and help others. That said, Harper’s personal stories also shine light on the injustice that exists in our reliance on people who have experienced marginalization and trauma to do the heavy lifting for change. Harper was able to respond with grace and compassion in difficult situations because she previously dealt with difficult lived experiences that prepared her. It is obvious that Harper has become an excellent and ethical professional because of such experiences. One might argue, however, that although Harper’s ability to overcome adversity and extraordinary circumstances helped to improve the lives of her patients and society in general, doing so was not a fair burden to place on her as a victim of abuse and marginalization.
The beauty in Harper’s broken story is that she did not allow herself to remain a victim. She instead practiced radical acceptance of the unfortunate hand she was dealt and used what she learned from her experiences to help others. Harper’s case is the ideal example of overcoming adversity. She includes in her memoir a short passage which summarizes her thoughts well. Here she is specifically recounting a situation where she chooses to assist a male patient whose file was flagged for previous sexual assault of a female doctor. Harper’s words fit both the specific situation she describes as well as a greater theme of her memoir. She says, “If I were to evolve, I would have to regard his brokenness genuinely and my own tenderly, and then make the next best decision. My choosing to care about his welfare, my decision to hold in my heart the best intention for another human being no matter who that person is or what they have done… despite my disgust at his previous behavior and the possible moral decay that had led him to it, was a social action” (92). Harper sets an example for what every member of the workforce, and really society at large, should strive for. Her choice to find and accept the beauty in breaking is just what she calls it: a defiant “social action.” Harper shows us there is indeed room to feel the frustration with what is broken, but to choose to heal it anyway.
About the Author
Samantha Johnson is a graduating senior at GVSU studying Management and Public & Nonprofit Administration. At GVSU, she dedicates her time to ethical leadership and conversation by serving as a Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy Lead Fellow Candidate and as the Student Program Support Person for the Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse. Off campus, she is working as the West Michigan Environmental Action Council's Fund Development & Events Intern for the Winter '22 semester. In her free time, she enjoys going for walks and hikes with her dog and exploring West Michigan.