Perhaps, there’s a difference between “punk rock” and “being punk.” Not everyone in punk rock has a punk mindset, because being punk has evolved to mean protecting and advocating for others, caring for your community, and fighting against the endless cycle of intolerant BS (but I’m sure someone will show up to tell me otherwise). The music is a nice bonus, but playing loud, fast, thrashy guitar and yelling a lot doesn’t automatically make someone punk. However, you can be punk without even being in the scene. It’s all in the mindset, besties. Anthony BourdainAnthony Bourdain was a chef, a writer, a traveler, and an enjoyer of life. He was also a deeply troubled individual, a former heroin addict, became continually disillusioned with celebrity near the end of his life, and dealt with a complicated relationship with his girlfriend at that time. Also, he was punk rock as hell. Living in New York City in 1977, Bourdain was on the front lines of the punk scene. However, in a 2007 essay in Spin, he made clear that this was not a good time for the city. It was a good time for music, if you looked past the fact that there was no money and almost everyone was running in the same drug circles.Throughout his life, Bourdain retained his curiosity and lust for discovery. He brought different cultures into the spotlight that might not have gotten the same attention, frequently traveling to dangerous regions and putting himself at risk. But his work wasn’t from the narrow perspective of a tone-deaf white tourist barreling through where he shouldn’t. Instead, Bourdain understood that it wasn’t about him. He was the vehicle through which we learned what’s important about life. Uncle Tony embodied punk when he said “Your body is not a temple. It’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”Nina SimoneNina Simone was trained in classical piano, played the blues and jazz in nightclubs, and was a leading figure in the Civil Rights Movement. Retrospectively, she had all the hallmarks of embracing punk sensibilities. She was a staunch activist, a gifted speaker, writer, and vocalist, and she used her skills to be loud and righteous in her work. Known as The High Priestess of Soul, she was multifaceted and highly talented.Through her friendship with writer Lorraine Hansberry, Simone fueled her commitment to radical politics and activism. When she and Hansberry got together, “we never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk.” In her music, Simone bared her beliefs, hopes, and grievances. Her song “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black” was a hopeful anthem for Black Americans, while the civil rights song “Backlash Blues” had lyrics written by Langston Hughes. Simone held many notable activists and artists in her circle, such as Hughes, James Baldwin, and Stokely Carmichael. Simone also fought against Eurocentric beauty standards in America, notably in the song “Four Women.”Mr. RogersTo be punk is to care about others, and no one personified the role of a calm, caring helper more than Fred Rogers. His TV show Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood raised generations of punks, and his lasting words are often shared during times of stress, disaster, or hardship. Mr. Rogers “took American childhood—and I think Americans in general—through some very turbulent and trying times,” said Syracuse professor Robert Thompson. The show spanned decades, and was a comforting presence during the Vietnam War, the JFK assassination, and the 9/11 attacks. He was reliable through a national tragedy, confusing parenting moments, and taught several generations of children how to face fears, make friends, and express themselves. In 1975, Mr. Rogers invited Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, to come on the show. He spoke to her about her job as an actress and her experience playing the witch, all while she dressed up in her costume from the movie. Because so many kids who saw The Wizard of Oz were terrified of the witch, Mr. Rogers and Hamilton purposefully demonstrated that she was just a character, that Hamilton was incredibly kind in real life. Again, punk as hell. Toni MorrisonToni Morrison was a prolific author who often centered her novels on race, class structures, generational trauma, and socio-political issues. All these were bolstered by incredibly complex characters and narratives, and her books have been studied and analyzed for decades. Morrison was punk in the same way that Mr. Rogers and Nina Simone were punk. She fought, protested, and advocated in the ways that she knew how, with the skills she possessed. Specifically, Morrison was an advocate for goodness. In her work, and in life, she found evil easy and boring. “I just think goodness is more interesting,” she told The Guardian in 2017. “Evil is constant. You can think of different ways to murder people, but you can do that at age five. But you have to be an adult to consciously, deliberately be good – and that’s complicated.”Morrison often spoke about how evil is a distraction from goodness. Arguing with those who spread evil, playing Devil’s Advocate, serves only as a distraction from conscious goodness, revolution, and real social change. Photo by Fotos International/Courtesy of Getty ImagesThe post Iconic Punks Who Weren’t Actually Involved in the Scene (Or Even in Music) appeared first on VICE.