so i finally got to see Black Panther again ( #WAKANDAFOREVER AHHHHHH–) and am now at a Starbucks basking in the afterglow of the movie, about to attempt to herd my thoughts into a more coherent cacophony of words than exists in my head at present. wish me luck. “It wasn’t bad.” “It was great!” “WAKANDA FOREVER!!!” said every non-black person ever when i’ve asked their thoughts on Black Panther. conversely, me and every other black person worth their salt have been losing it on social media and in general since the movie’s release in The States in February. the stark difference in people’s reactions is both amusing and cause for eye rolling, imho. it’s comparable to the YouTube reaction videos by cis and or straight youtubers that i’ve seen in response to Janelle Monáe’s recent “Make Me Feel” and “PYNK” videos. “THAT WAS AMAZING, but i feel like i’m missing something. am i missing something?” yes, you’re missing “something.” more like “everything.” you see, it’s pretty obvious to me that my #WakandaForever✊? doesn’t mean what your #WakandaForever✊? means. granted this is a broad generalization and supposition on my part, but i think it’s safe to say that when non-black movie goers watch Black Panther, they come away from it as they would any other Hollywood Blockbuster of an action movie. yep, that sure was some Marvel Comics theatrics, that Black Panther. and when viewed like that, sure. i see where the aforementioned responses come from. viewed as someone who isnt black uncritically, i suppose it’s easy to miss the many gems that director Ryan Coogler and his team not only included throughout the movie but infused into the very plot of the movie itself. so here i am to wordvomit my personal musings about some of those gems. there will be spoilers. let’s talk about Wakanda. and how it’s a fictional, afrofuturistic version of what Africa could have been had colonialism not repeatedly ravaged, violated and assaulted it and its people. how Africa has always been one of the wealthiest continents in the world in terms of natural resources (see: vibranium) and how those natural resources continue to make companies in ‘first world’ countries millions while the people whose land is being taken advantage of continue to suffer ‘third world’ problems. i don’t think that people truly understand what it means to many of us to see this glimpse of an African country that never was; a country that is not only successful by anyone’s standards, but is rich, peaceful, free of ‘colonizers’ and is arguably more technologically advanced than even Stark Labs in The Land of The Free. let’s talk about how at the end of the movie, T’Challa opened an outreach center in the community that Killmonger grew up in and how that is a “Real World” thing that people have historically done (and continue to do) in / for black communities across America. let’s talk about the foundation that was laid for the plot of the next Black Panther movie: the UN conference revealing Wakanda’s resources to the world and the obnoxious commentary made by a ‘developed’ country’s representative. or let’s not. we all know how Black Panther 2 will play out, because we live it every day. or at least, some of us do. let’s talk about #BringOurGirlsBack which, much like the #MeToo ‘movement,’ had its short-lived time in the international spotlight until that spotlight moved on to the next crisis à la mode. did you even catch Coogler’s own brief spotlighting of this ongoing issue during the film? the scene in Nigeria where T’Challa comes to pick up the undercover Nakia, who is working to free women from a militant group that is obviously reference to Boko Haram– child soldier and all. of course, Coogler shouldn’t get all of the credit for this particular scene– thanks Lupita and Danai