A few Sundays ago I went to go see “Black Panther” the first week it hit theaters and was I satisfied and emotionally moved by this film overall, deeply! I decided to do this little rendition in honor of the film’s legendary debut and awing success (as of today it’s over $700 million according to the Box Office). Black Panther Jinn!
The story of T’Challa and his kingdom of Wakanda is not only just a marvelous but ‘fictional’ representation of real ancient Afrokan culture and technology, it is also representative of spiritual and eco-technological potential that the continental Afrokans and the Afrokans of the Diaspora have. I thoroughly enjoyed “Black Panther” because it spoke for us Afro-Americans and the Afrokans born in Afroka in a way where it will engender serious conversation between the two and I love this movie for how it portrayed us Afrokan males and women beautifully and potently.
Erik Killmonger is one of the characters I really enjoyed, a lot of what he was is what I felt (and STILL FEEL) inside, due to the collective plight of my people and the horrendous events that occurred to my ancestors. However, the movie showed how one’s own rage towards his enemy can turn his rage into hatred of himself if he doesn’t fully understand or know of his roots. Killmonger spent his lifetime studying and emulating the mindset of his oppressor/enemy in order to get back at him, but he was disconnected from his roots (Afroka) spiritually, culturally, and linguistically like most of us in the Afrokan Disapora, which caused him to be brutal to his own people. This was a major gem in the movie that I think a lot of people may not have caught, this man’s anger and hate was brewing to the point where it made him hate his roots (Afroka/Wakanda) for his unfortunate circumstances.
There’s a lot and I mean a LOT of subtle layers to this movie that we could go over, but, all that is way too extensive to cover in this post. Back on Erik Killmonger, to me he wasn’t necessarily a “bad/evil” guy (albeit he was extremely inhumane and apathetic, psychotic and violent), he was merely consumed with hate and revenge, which led him to be so vile in his actions. Here’s an Afrokan axiom to elucidate you further on this character, “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel it’s warmth.”
Love your Afrokan roots, love yourself. Ase