What is 'red rage' and what can we do about it?

“Red rage” is a term some of us might be familiar with, and it was explored on a recent episode of New Fire on CBC Radio.

Travis Hebertand and Craig Frank Edes are Mob Bounce, a hip hop group from B.C. that do more than make good music. The two want to talk about how we handle feelings of red rage, a kind of anger that comes from intergenerational trauma and the effects of colonization.

There are a lot of negative things we can do with those feelings, but there are also many positive things. Channelling them into something creative is one option.

Hebertand and Edes put on hip hop workshops that blend elements of lyrical storytelling, drumming, singing and dancing that breathe new life into traditions — aimed at youth so that they can explore and develop a Sacred Space for themselves.

"I believe that we all go through 'red rage' at one point on our process to enlightenment," Edes told CBC Radio host Lisa Charleyboy.

"It's like that intergenerational trauma… [is] rising to the surface, toxins rising to the surface," Hebertand said. "That moment of 'red rage' is when we realize that we're holding on to more than we know. And that's why that anxiety or that anger existed."

The whole interview with Lisa Charleyboy is definitely worth listening to. Check it out here.

And check out Mob Bounce’s music, here.

What do you do when you’re feeling angry? Do you have positive strategies to deal with your emotions?