With the recent release of Marvel's "Black Panther," a lot of people are commending it for its exceptional display of black pride. However, I think the strong women of this movie take the win. Despite being the titular character, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), felt secondary to the insanely badass women surrounding him due to the fact that they continually outshined him in their abilities. With complete grace, each of the women in this film defies the gender expectations placed upon women and break the mold of what it means to be strong. They never compromise what they want and unapologetically stay true to themselves.
Shuri (Letitia Wright), T'Challa's younger sister, is the teenage princess of Wakanda and she is already smarter than her big brother along with being fully capable in a fight. She designs the new Black Panther suit that seems to be able to not only take more damage but has the ability to dish out more hurt upon his opponents as well.
In addition to the super awesome suit, she creates all kinds of gadgets that help with the defense of her country and has come up with disks that can be attached to a car to either stop it completely or give her control over any vehicle, even planes, from her lab. She even comes up with ways to mine the Vibranium, which is the backbone of her country. This princess is equipped not only with weapons of her own creation but her intellect as well.
Okoye (Danai Gurira) is the head of the Dora Milaje, the all-female special forces of Wakanda, who is a little scary in her ability to beat the crap out of anyone. The Dora Milaje were first seen in Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War" speaking only one powerful line: "Move, or you will be moved." These words accurately describe the way the Okoye functions in relation to her country and crown.
Following T'Challa's defeat, she does not waver in her commitment to the leader of Wakanda even though she doesn't like the shift in power. It is only when she determines that Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) will harm her country, which has her ultimate loyalty, does she chose to fight him claiming that she will kill even W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), the man she loves who has chosen the wrong side, for her country.
Finally, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), is exactly the princess I want to be. Not one at all. Despite having the ability to completely give up fighting for the princess life, she fights the ideals of T'challa and instead opts for saving the women of Africa. The movie opens with her undercover in an attempt to save women who will be used for less than legal acts. Nakia continually turns down T'Challa and his wish for marriage claiming that her ambitions are too big for the confines of a queen.
