So my brother and I were just talking on the phone and we realized: Aang might have mastered all four elements but Sokka mastered the non-bending styles from all four nations!
He already knew how to fight with Water Tribe weapons/regalia:
Then, in what’s likely the first Earth Kingdom village he’s ever visited, he learned how to fight with the Warriors of Kyoshi:
When he reached the Northern Air Temple, he was able to tap into the philosophy of the airbenders and realize that the best way to win a battle is to avoid face-to-face confrontation by instead using creative means (and the sky) to take down your opponent:
And finally, when he reached the Fire Nation, Piandao taught him how to forge a unique weapon and hone his swordsmanship:
Sokka learned all four non-bending styles!
Really puts Iroh’s quote into a different context:
“Understanding the other nations will help you become whole.”
[ image is photograph of a brick wall with two big posters. the first one is the new york times article with every line blacked out except “officer Darren Wilson fatally shot unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown.” and to the right is a large blow up poster of Michael Brown in a graduation photo. ]
A Teenager With Promise
Powerful
This is Alexandra Bell’s work for her series called “counter narratives” who is an incredible artist from Chicago (now based in NYC, I believe) who revises mainstream media pieces about Black people to actually reflect the reality of Black folks and to make white media bias visible. She has one about Serena Williams and the whitensupremacist who attacked demonstrators in Charlottesville with his car.
Bell visited and spoke at the art museum I used to work at and put her work up across the university campus. She’s a fkn icon. Follow Bell’s work.
