Remembering the life and legacy of Chadwick Boseman

2020 is really something. Kobe Bryant’s sudden death in January brought a feeling of mortality that I cannot shake to this day. One doesn’t need to be a basketball fan to recognize the name of a man who influenced nearly every Black teen’s jump shot for the past 20 years. Kobe’s legacy lives on. Now, with Chadwick Boseman’s death in August, we honor a similar legacy.

In his most prolific role, Chadwick Boseman was much more than just the sovereign T’Challa of the fictional Wakanda. It’s his legacy as the Black Panther who gave young Black children in communities all over the world a hero who looked like them. 

Chadwick and Black Panther movie director Ryan Coogler were able to turn a somewhat obscure Marvel character into a mainstay while creating a cultural phenomenon. I saw Black Panther four times the month it came out. Inspired by the significance of the plot and my own personal role influencing children in the community, I decided to don the Black Panther persona in the Library, hoping to accomplish a fraction of what Chadwick managed to do in his role onscreen. Black men are significantly underrepresented in libraries and education, so as the outlier I could show the real importance of that representation.

Even my roleplaying of this character only scratches the surface of what this fine actor accomplished. Long before Black Panther or his rise to superstardom, Boseman played other notable Black heroes like Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and James Brown. In his personal life, Chadwick was often acknowledged for his kindness, humility and strength of character. He continued to be a hero despite his cancer diagnosis. That is another reason why his death is surreal to me. It is especially devastating when the good die young.

2020 was supposed to be our year, a year full of potential, the start to a shiny new decade that would leave behind the uncertainty of years past and bring hope to a new generation. What we got in return was a far cry from our expectations, and so broad in its effect there isn’t enough room on this page to recount it all. (SPOILER ALERT) Much like the end of the movie Avengers: Infinity War, we have been left blindsided by the sheer amount of loss. If there was one thing I was not prepared for when watching that movie for the first time, it was for the heroes to fall short, lose their battle and perish. Among the fallen was King T’Challa/Black Panther himself, who disintegrated amid the chaos of war. The Marvel Universe can easily correct any adversity with a second movie but, sadly, there are no do-overs in the real world and we mourn the loss of Chadwick Boseman. A king has fallen but the kingdom lives on. Wakanda Forever.

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This blog was written by Darius Smalls at the ImaginOn branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library