When I watched the movie Black Panther with my children and the millions of other people across the country who set records by marching out to the movie theaters in drives to see this film, I asked myself why this movie was so important at this time. The movie was important because it wasn’t just children who were inspired – the film came at a time when awareness of the importance of diversity and representation on screen was growing.
As a writer who is constantly working to bring awareness of the importance of diversity in the publishing industry, I was excited for Black Panther, for a lot of reasons but the ones at the top of the list include:
- The movie featured a majority Black cast, which is unusual in Hollywood.
- The director, Ryan Coogler, is a black man.
- The representation of positive black people throughout the movie was something you rarely see throughout a full-length feature film.
So the recent announcement that Chadwick Boseman had passed stirred something inside of me. It was something that I had only felt when iconic superstars like Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, and Luther Vandross had passed away.
When we lost those iconic voices I felt the loss because each one of those individuals had shifted the culture of music in their own way. They had left behind a musical legacy that will stand the test of time. Each time I happen to hear a song from one of those artist I get emotional because their music makes you feel something. I fell the same way about the passing of Mr. Boseman. Before Black Panther was released I can not remember a time where I was excited to see a superhero movie. I’m the biggest Spiderman fan, I have been since I was a child. But not even your neighborhood friendly Spiderman could get me to pay for a movie three times.
Black Panther gave me hope. Chadwick Boseman gave me hope because he understood the responsibility he was undertaking as he prepared to play a character in a movie that people across the world were waiting to see.
Thank you Mr. Boseman. Thank you for inspiring me to create characters that hopefully will one day be brought to life from pages in a book to a screen.
May you rest in peace. You will be missed.
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