Chadwick Boseman was inner strength personified. This is objectively true. The man played Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Thurgood Marshall, who were all bastions of strength during their lives. Knowing that Boseman struggled with cancer for the last 4 years without letting any of the public know, it seems clear that the inner strength he so aptly personified was just who he was as a person.
There is this movie that Boseman played in called Message From the King. Honestly, it is a movie that is well beneath his talents. It is basically a vigilante revenge story that stars Boseman as Jacob King, a South African with a shady past who comes to Los Angeles to help his sister because she has gotten involved with organized crime. It is not a good movie, and I suspect that Netflix only picked it up because Boseman had become a superstar. However, when I was watching this movie something strange happened. See, you watch Taken to see Liam Neeson beat up dudes, and Neeson knows that, so he plays into that standard action anti-hero role. But during Message From the King Boseman is actively working to find the pathos of a character that would have been phoned in by almost any other actor. He is so good in it, that I literally told my brother that it was (honest quote) “one of the best things on Netflix, period.” Boseman carried this b-movie on his back. What I did not know is that the load he was carrying was far heavier than any movie.
This might seem like a weird statement, but I honestly do not think we give the Marvel performers enough credit. To be a Marvel hero it seems that one must be on all the time. I cannot remember what Red Carpet appearance it was, but I remember there was one event where Boseman seemed a little tired, and for whatever reason there was this minor uproar among the click-bait bloggers wherein they accused Boseman of being annoyed with his fans. I do not mention this to attack the bloggers, but I instead want to say how amazed I am that Boseman did not defend himself. I was Pastor of a church for 5 years and I have visited with people who have gone through the horrors of chemotherapy and radiation. I cannot imagine going through all of that while filming 7 movies, going through press junkets, and fulfilling all of the needs that must be met by any actor or actress who plays a Marvel hero. And when I first heard of his untimely passing, I must admit, I wondered why he did not let his struggles be known. Now, after giving it some thought, I think I know.
There is a YouTube clip of Boseman and his Black Panther castmates that I think will probably become quite famous in the next couple days. In the clip, Boseman tells the story of how he became close with two children who were facing terminal cancer. He is overtaken by his emotions as he talks about how these two children who were stricken with this death sentence, were hoping to stay alive to see Black Panther. And no one who was watching that interview knew that he was also facing his own cancer diagnosis. Perhaps the reason he kept his own diagnosis from the public is that he did not want anything to overshadow what he knew would be a transformative piece of art. And, yes, I realize that there has been some discussion on ableism, and how our society treats those with disabilities and expects people with debilitating sicknesses to “work through it,” but I really hope that this discussion does not take away from the reality of this indisputable fact: we needed Black Panther.
My favorite character is Batman. By the time Black Panther hit movie screens I had seen my favorite character in 9 different blockbuster movies. Spider-Man had 5 different movies. Captain America and Iron Man had both starred in 3 movies, plus were the headliners in two Avengers films. But black people were woefully underrepresented. And then along came Black Panther, which was unapologetic in its presentation of African culture. And when I look back on my life, I realize how important Batman was to my adolescence, which makes me realize how necessary the character of Black Panther was to young people of color. I believe Chadwick Boseman understood the importance of the character he was portraying. And as he dug into the character of T’challa, Boseman imbued the character with the inner strength that is the trademark of all his performances. Sure, Michael B. Jordan gets the flashier role as Killmonger, but it is Boseman who portrays a strong king, made all the stronger by both the powerful women in his life and his desire to do the right thing. It is not hard to read the end of the movie, where T’challa reveals Wakanda to a skeptical United Nations, as a subtle message to all viewers. As one of the ambassadors haughtily asks what such a backward nation could offer the world, Boseman gives the camera a sly smile. Sure, the message of that smile is about how much Wakanda can give the Marvel Universe, but the message to the audience is the unescapable, undeniable, and beautiful truth that black people have much to offer the world. And that was and remains a message America needs to heed.
The honest truth is that I cannot quantify how much Black Panther meant to the African-American community. I do recall during some of my worst days as a child playing with my Batman action figures, or hiding under the bed with GI Joes, as away to escape the trauma that every child has experienced. But none of my trauma came from societal oppression, which is why Black Panther was and still is necessary. All children need heroes; in fact I would go so far to say all children need fictional and fantastical heroes in their lives. Once again I think Boseman realized this, and I believe he came to this conclusion because of the inner strength that he so easily portrayed in all his films. Jesus is recorded as saying that there is no greater love than when someone lays down their life for someone else. Though many of the tributes to Boseman have mentioned his Faith, I am not aware of his religion. However, by fighting through a life threatening disease in order to give a seemingly ignored community the hero they needed, I believe that Boseman was a man capable of great love. His life and work proves this to be true.
Wakanda Forever.
Long live the king.
