I saw Marvel’s “Black Panther” twice during its opening weekend. It was just as amazing, as beautiful, and as important as everyone said it would be. And damn, is Angela Bassett ever going to age? She is literally the definition of ‘black don’t crack.’
I felt empowered afterward. I felt so connected to the film and all the beautiful black people starring in it, and all the other beautiful black people across the world. It’s what I imagine white people felt like when they saw Captain America for the first time (the first film is set during WWII and segregation was still a thing, so - I had my reservations).
It’s kind of like that conversation you have to have with your white friends when they’re like "omg if you could go back to anytime, what would it be?" And you kind of sit there for a second, because of course there are time periods you appreciate, but anything before 1969 is iffy.
Maybe the 80's... but oh... there were drugs and guns being flooded into the ghettos, and black people being imprisoned for misdemeanor charges so... maybe not then, either. And your white friend just stares at you like ‘is it really that deep?’ But yeah it is. It’s always that deep.
I imagine black children in the future having the same conversation and thinking yikes, because those children definitely would not want to come back to this era where black people are unjustly gunned down by police who face no real repercussions, there’s a racist and alleged rapist in the White House, and there’s at least one mass shooting every month. Yeah. Skip this era, please. I wish I could.
Anyways, the point of this is “Black Panther” made me care, but not everyone will feel this way. People from every race will think “oh Black Panther is just another superhero movie,” or “oh the Black Lives Matter movement isn’t a big deal,” or even “eh gun reform will happen or it won’t.” This is a problem.
This is the point in history where everything is on fire and you can look back in 50 years and either you can say that you fought, that you made your voice heard, that you used every platform you could and tried to change things.
Or, you can look at your children – grandchildren possibly – and tell them you just didn’t care, you just didn’t think it was a big deal, that you sat back and watched the whole thing happen from the sidelines.
We’re at the point where things have to change. I hope “Black Panther,” inspired even a handful of people as much as it inspired me. I hope that movies like “Black Panther” are made for every race.
Because if you think black people are underrepresented – or badly represented – the statistics are even worse for other races. I hope something inspires other people to join the fight, inspires them to have difficult conversations, and take difficult actions.
I’m at the point where either you’re with me, or you’re against me.
Wakanda forever.
