Wakanda Forever

Let me be clear: THERE ARE NO BLACK PANTHER SPOILERS IN THIS ESSAY.

Now, let me turn to the task at hand.

I, along with many millions of you, saw Marvel's Black Panther last weekend. Like a true epic, it awakened something at once brand new & yet resoundingly familiar in me. It was the same experience watching The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I was 14, and I promised my sister I would keep her company on the long drive to Atlanta the next day. However, like most plans formed by a 14 year old, I failed to keep her good company after staying up all night spending 9+ hours in Middle Earth.

I grew up with a plethora of fantastic lands to idealize. Long before my first foray into Middle Earth I discovered Cair Paravel & the sprawling continent of Narnia. Years later in college, I at last read the entire Harry Potter series. Between Hogwarts, Middle Earth, & Narnia it was easy to write papers concerning fantastic lands with so many to explore. Thus the gift of wonderful fantasy literature found its way into my world. Yet until this very month, I rarely considered the distinct vacuum of fantastic lands for those of non-European descent in popular culture. I grew up with not one but three lands which transformed the very world I live in. But for Black Americans & many other minority groups, this gift was not readily available in popular culture.

Then Wakanda happened.

A beautiful thread in Black Panther concerns what it means to be of African descent in a world which bears the scars of colonialism, slavery, & continuing prejudice. Just as Get Out enfleshed a bit of Du Bois's articulation of double-consciousness, Black Panther presents the reality so many Black Americans face in moving forward from the past: what does it mean to make a home out of a world that is so hostile to my people? When I began to consider this experience as I sat in the theater, I began to see the beauty of Wakanda.

One of the hip-hop artists I follow posted this tweet yesterday:

In Narina I found people who looked like me who I could aspire to become like. It was a land that, at its best, stood for all that is beautiful & good in a diverse creation. I rejoice, truly rejoice that in Wakanda so many Black Americans may have the same gift which C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, & Madeline L'Engle gave to me. Of course Narnia, Middle Earth, & Hogwarts are accessible to all people. But you cannot deny the distinct gift when someone who stands in the same tradition, the same background, the same people group as you offers a fantastic world which speaks to your concerns, your struggles, your hopes & desires.

These fantastic spaces have existed in many forms for many cultures. But we are beginning to bring these spaces for all peoples to the forefront of our world. There was a student from Africa who worked at the front dest of my college gym. One day as I walked by, I told him,"Hey friend, it is good to see you!" He replied, "It is good to be seen." Fantastic lands do not offer an escape from the reality of the world, but they imagine a world where you can understand to live better in a world that is hard to understand. For there, you are seen just as much as you see. And people who know they are seen change the world.

If the tradition I stand in is correct, one day people from all nations, backgrounds, & languages will worship God together. Christians first & foremost ought to understand the gift it is to aspire to make our present home more like our eternal home, and that means learning from & celebrating with those who look, think, act, & speak differently than we do. In this season of Lent, the Church turns inward to prepare one's heart for the reality of Easter. It is a special time for reflection, inspection, fasting, confession & repentance. So I humbly confess the ways I have sinned against my Black neighbors, by what I have done & by what I have left undone. I am not only at fault against my own Father, but also against those He so deeply loves.

You see, I am not worthy to be a citizen of Narnia or Middle Earth or Wakanda. In many ways I am not worthy to be a citizen of the United States, my city, or my state. In my faith, I certainly am not worthy of being called a citizen of Christ's Church. Yet, these citizenships are a gift, a place we see & are seen. In Wakanda, Narnia, Middle, Earth, Hogwarts, I hope people see all that they have to bring to this world.

Wakanda forever.

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that not mean it is real?" -Dumbledore-

"You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there." -Aslan-

“Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” -Gandalf-

"We must find a way to look after each other, as if we were one single tribe." -T'Challa-