When I first watched Captain America: Civil War, I wasn’t sure who the mysterious Black Panther was. What was his purpose in the Marvel Universe? After watching the movie, it was clear that he was a leader, with enormous strengths. Attempting to seek revenge for his father’s death throughout the movie, he realized that vengeance consumed many people, but he chose to no longer let vengeance consume him. A similar experience occurred in his stand-alone film Black Panther. When I watched Black Panther, T’Challa wanted to keep Wakanda’s Vibranium from the rest of the world to protect his people. At the end of the movie, he realized Wakanda had the power to help others, and should open its borders to other counties in need. 

Chadwick Boseman played the character so admirably because he was that character, a man always looking to better himself and others. A man of natural leadership. Chadwick was an inspiration to me. An incredible example of how to navigate in a world full of evil; by being the good. Boseman fought for racial injustice in America by portraying characters of ethnic background to inspire black community members all over the world. Whether he was T’Challa in Black Panther or Jackie Robinson in 42, he never failed to convey the message of equality. 

He was, and is, someone who I look up to. Shortly after Boseman graduated college, he was cast into a soap opera, where he played a young black man whose father wasn’t in his life, and a drug addicted mother. Chadwick was conflicted on playing the role, because the role “played into stereotypes”. He built up courage and confronted the executives and voiced his concerns, after which he was fired. Even as a young man, he always did what was right, he was an example of how you’re never too young to invoke change. 

I will miss Chadwick deeply, but as a brave man once said “In our culture, death is not the end.”

Yibambe! Wakanda Forever