Self-Love Lessons Learned in Wakanda

When I first saw the commercial for Black Panther, back in the summer, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe that I would see a legitimate, respected, Marvel-sponsored, full-length feature film about a Black Superhero… with all the bells and whistles and big budget that the White Superheros get. But, then as I started watching the previews, I really got freaked out! OMG, this is the Blackest thing I’ve ever seen! Mostly Black cast, dark-skinned leads, natural hair styles, spotlighting African civilizations, and the interweaving of Oakland, my beloved hometown / birthplace of the Black Panther Party, deep Black themes, etc. Surely, I thought, there is some type of catch! There is no way this movie REALLY got funded and made.

 

But it did get made. It was real. And I watched it. I think lol. Honestly, it still feels like a blur, but it was amazing. And there are so many reasons why it was a valuable film, but especially because it does wonders for our self-love.

 

Black people across the globe need a movie that is unapologetically Black. We all need a movie that is unapologetically celebrates who we are from the inside out. That makes it okay to be who we are, allows us to find strength and forgive our complex history, and shows us how beautiful and amazing we CURRENTLY are.

 

We have all been served a cocktail for centuries of self-hate. Many of us are still drinking that kool-aid, and still internalizing perceived inferiority. And that makes sense! When you’ve been taught for centuries to believe in your deficiencies, it’s a tough thing to shake! Even now, those of us who really do love each other and love our Blackness, have a tendency to focus exclusively on all our problems without celebrating our strengths. We focus on all of the problems in our communities, without celebrating the promise and hope.  

 

I was honored to speak at a Black History Month Celebration last week, at Bethlehem Temple Church, and it was beautiful–a sea of Black people in the Faith Community, all looking to support each other and do community organizing. While there, I was reminded of one important thing that Michelle Alexander (author of The New Jim Crow) said. She reminded us that we are “miracles”. We are divine. We are a gorgeously divine people, right now, in this moment… and we need a movie that reminds us of that.

 

Black Panther reminds us of that… now, don’t me wrong there are lots of Black movies that are wonderful. But this is a mainstream, Superhero movie that believes in our future! That celebrates our intelligence, our loving spirit, our evolution, and does not just focus on our struggle! That celebrates in our possibility! That reminds us that there is nothing INHERENTLY WRONG WITH US!

 

A film that points out how we are overcoming traumas (both in our daily lives and generationally), and doing a damn good job surviving–in most cases without any treatment whatsoever!

Black Panther doesn’t leave us feeling as though all of our glory is all in the past, and behind us. Instead, it makes you feel understand our current beauty. Right now, in this moment, we deserve honor. We deserve respect. We deserve to recognize our core selves, and the miracles we make happen everyday! From keeping the lights on, to finding cures for diseases and so much more. From feeding families, to feeding souls of entire communities. We are powerful, and we should never let folks (or ourselves) diminish that.  

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