Not a Star Wars thread, for once. I've been thinking about this for a bit as Black Panther edges closer to release. And, while I'm not expecting some groundbreaking movie that transcends the Marvel formula (I hope to be proven wrong), what BP depicts is something powerful, yet also depressing. The entire idea is that there exists a fictional African nation called Wakanda that has perfectly preserved its particular African history and culture while also simultaneously managing to be on the technological and economic level of the West, in fact it exceeds the technological achievements of the West. We've seen images of brightly garbed black people in traditional African attire. Kendrick Lamar has done a soundtrack including a stellar music-video rich with African iconography. And, every black kid has the name T'Challa on the tip of their tongue.
But, the thing that slightly depresses me about Black Panther is that it is all fiction.
And, by that I don't mean the existence of Wakanda and its techno-magic, I mean the actual culture. It reminds me of what we, as Niggas in America (and the West) have lost, which is essentially everything. You see, we have no idea what African culture was and/or is like. We don't have a fucking clue where we are originally from. We don't fucking know our particular African history. We don't have any fantastical myths passed down to us from generation to generation. We don't have our ancient fairy tales preserved into the present day such that they can be turned into animated Disney movies. We don't have our old African spiritual songs that we can chant in rhythm. We have almost zero connection to the entire continent of Africa. And, even for those black-African individuals that might actually originate from an African nation, it is unlikely that even they have any knowledge of their actual past history and culture. Rather, they have the history and culture of a post-colonialist nation, drafted by European nations drawing indiscriminate lines to conjure up entire nations where dozens of tribes likely lived separate from one another. Their history and culture is that of a response to a new order, as opposed to a continuation of the old.
In other words, our entire knowledge of African culture tends to come from a sort of pop culture osmosis. Kanga textiles and lion skins, dashikis, drums, and Swahili sounds. Lion King and Coming to America. But, we have no real connection to our past. On the other hand, "white people" culture is alive, well, and still kicking. This is something I really need to stress, almost every "white" culture (not just Anglo-Saxon) has been "perfectly" preserved (by this I mean readily accessible and distilled into their relevant society). Such that, if you're White (in America) you can easily learn about your past, even if your family has recently "forgotten" where they came from. If your English all your culture and history dating back to Hadrian's Wall is preserved; whether it be the fictional tales of King Arthur to the conquests of King Henry V or William the Conqueror. Scandinavian culture is celebrated to this day. Thor is more than a Marvel character, we're talking about an ancient Scandinavian religion that has been preserved and is still discussed and heralded to this day. Scottish culture, Polish culture, Slav/Russian culture, German culture, etc. All preserved. Yet, this connection to the past goes beyond "white" cultures, other minorities have still managed to retain a portion of their history and culture. Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, hell even those Native American tribes not wiped out have been able to at least maintain a good portion of their past history/culture, including their own celebrated heroes which have somehow even become a part of American lexicon. Black Hawk, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, etc.
But, back to the American Negro, what the fuck do we have? Nothing. We were carted to this New World in chains, our clutched history and culture beaten out of us. Our language rendered extinct. Our religion declared blasphemous and purged. Our homelands burnt, ravaged, stripped of resources, and then its boundaries redrawn. Its old name lost to the sands of time. The ONLY fucking culture we have is the new culture that we crafted when we were dropped onto to this God forsaken Rock. And, isn't it a surprise that our former oppressors seek to take even that from us too? Co-opt our language, shake and twerk to our music, adopt our fashion, and then when all is said and done, declare they came up with it in the first place and build themselves a statue. Ask why we can't model ourselves after the other "successful" minorities, but then conveniently forget that they enacted Jim Crow and burned Black Wall Street to the ground along with every other historically black community that achieved a modicum of success. And then, when the ashes were still smoking, declared it was time to "desegregate." Can you possibly understand what it is like not having any connection to a past that doesn't start in the chains of the 1600's?
So, what the fuck am I getting at? Well, you see, as much as Thor engages in whimsical space adventures to the tunes of Led Zeppelin, it doesn't erase the fact that Thor was a "real" person. A religious figure that can still be read about today and ties into the culture of an entire people. Whether Thor continues to exist in the Marvel-verse has no bearing on the perpetuation of his entire myth that is tied to an entire people. Black Panther, on the other hand, is no actual myth of the African-American people. Rather, he and his entire fictional universe, exists as the dream of a broken people. A look of what could have been, instead of what was. A glimpse at a foggy past, in a future world. It's not a world we can recognize from our past, but a rediscovering of what our past and future could have looked like.
And THAT IS WHY BLACK PANTHER IS SUCH A BIG DEAL YOU PIECE OF SHITS.
Discuss.
EDIT:
Fixed some typos and grammar.
DOUBLE EDIT:
Adding in The Adder 's response since it is also extremely relevant.
But, the thing that slightly depresses me about Black Panther is that it is all fiction.
And, by that I don't mean the existence of Wakanda and its techno-magic, I mean the actual culture. It reminds me of what we, as Niggas in America (and the West) have lost, which is essentially everything. You see, we have no idea what African culture was and/or is like. We don't have a fucking clue where we are originally from. We don't fucking know our particular African history. We don't have any fantastical myths passed down to us from generation to generation. We don't have our ancient fairy tales preserved into the present day such that they can be turned into animated Disney movies. We don't have our old African spiritual songs that we can chant in rhythm. We have almost zero connection to the entire continent of Africa. And, even for those black-African individuals that might actually originate from an African nation, it is unlikely that even they have any knowledge of their actual past history and culture. Rather, they have the history and culture of a post-colonialist nation, drafted by European nations drawing indiscriminate lines to conjure up entire nations where dozens of tribes likely lived separate from one another. Their history and culture is that of a response to a new order, as opposed to a continuation of the old.
In other words, our entire knowledge of African culture tends to come from a sort of pop culture osmosis. Kanga textiles and lion skins, dashikis, drums, and Swahili sounds. Lion King and Coming to America. But, we have no real connection to our past. On the other hand, "white people" culture is alive, well, and still kicking. This is something I really need to stress, almost every "white" culture (not just Anglo-Saxon) has been "perfectly" preserved (by this I mean readily accessible and distilled into their relevant society). Such that, if you're White (in America) you can easily learn about your past, even if your family has recently "forgotten" where they came from. If your English all your culture and history dating back to Hadrian's Wall is preserved; whether it be the fictional tales of King Arthur to the conquests of King Henry V or William the Conqueror. Scandinavian culture is celebrated to this day. Thor is more than a Marvel character, we're talking about an ancient Scandinavian religion that has been preserved and is still discussed and heralded to this day. Scottish culture, Polish culture, Slav/Russian culture, German culture, etc. All preserved. Yet, this connection to the past goes beyond "white" cultures, other minorities have still managed to retain a portion of their history and culture. Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, hell even those Native American tribes not wiped out have been able to at least maintain a good portion of their past history/culture, including their own celebrated heroes which have somehow even become a part of American lexicon. Black Hawk, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, etc.
But, back to the American Negro, what the fuck do we have? Nothing. We were carted to this New World in chains, our clutched history and culture beaten out of us. Our language rendered extinct. Our religion declared blasphemous and purged. Our homelands burnt, ravaged, stripped of resources, and then its boundaries redrawn. Its old name lost to the sands of time. The ONLY fucking culture we have is the new culture that we crafted when we were dropped onto to this God forsaken Rock. And, isn't it a surprise that our former oppressors seek to take even that from us too? Co-opt our language, shake and twerk to our music, adopt our fashion, and then when all is said and done, declare they came up with it in the first place and build themselves a statue. Ask why we can't model ourselves after the other "successful" minorities, but then conveniently forget that they enacted Jim Crow and burned Black Wall Street to the ground along with every other historically black community that achieved a modicum of success. And then, when the ashes were still smoking, declared it was time to "desegregate." Can you possibly understand what it is like not having any connection to a past that doesn't start in the chains of the 1600's?
So, what the fuck am I getting at? Well, you see, as much as Thor engages in whimsical space adventures to the tunes of Led Zeppelin, it doesn't erase the fact that Thor was a "real" person. A religious figure that can still be read about today and ties into the culture of an entire people. Whether Thor continues to exist in the Marvel-verse has no bearing on the perpetuation of his entire myth that is tied to an entire people. Black Panther, on the other hand, is no actual myth of the African-American people. Rather, he and his entire fictional universe, exists as the dream of a broken people. A look of what could have been, instead of what was. A glimpse at a foggy past, in a future world. It's not a world we can recognize from our past, but a rediscovering of what our past and future could have looked like.
And THAT IS WHY BLACK PANTHER IS SUCH A BIG DEAL YOU PIECE OF SHITS.
Discuss.
EDIT:
Fixed some typos and grammar.
DOUBLE EDIT:
Adding in The Adder 's response since it is also extremely relevant.
Last edited:
