What Does Wakanda Represent and Why it is important?

The idea of good versus bad distinguishes the fact that in these super hero narratives such as Black Panther, the lines between the past and the present are blurred, if not erased.  The conflict in this film shows how people are often fixated on the past, and their own selfish reason.  After watching this film for the second time, it is easy to understand how representation plays an important role, and how that role helps shape the characters loyalty.

Wakanda is a representation of African American culture, and its way of showing how African Americans should be represented. For centuries and Still, African Americans have been the center of oppression. When this film first came out, millions of people went to see it, not once, but multiple times because the message and promise of liberation is clear for African Americans.  It’s 2019, and times haven’t change much. The dominated group is still white, and African Americans all over the world struggle to get represented in films, books, clothing, etc., and when we do get represented; it is in a negative way. For example, the Clothing brand, Gucci, who released a blackface sweater. Therefore, Wakanda is not just a fictional country, but as Dyson says, “Wakanda is the name of our paradise and possibility” (271). Wakanda represents, in my opinion, what the African American dream should and could look like if, and when we are liberated from being oppressed by society’s standards.

Wakanda is the belief that anything is possible, and that is very important to the African American culture, because we don’t get represented enough. Because we are not represented enough, the conflict arises when we do get the opportunity to have the same advantages as others, we want to keep it to ourselves out of fear that our identity, our culture, our traditions will be stolen.  In Black Panther, T’Challa is the king and although he wants to do good by the people of Wakanda, he fears letting the outsiders in on their technology advantages. This fear of the outsiders taking what’s rightfully ours shows how for African Americans that Wakanda is not just a place, but it’s a place where African Americans can put aside their fears and imagine a world of possibilities.

The representation of Wakanda is not just about African Americans as a race or culture, but the importance of acknowledging that spiritual self-love of who we are. From the beginning of our time up until the present, African Americans have been bullied, denied rights, and told time after time again that we are not important. This film, and Wakanda gives African Americans their respectful place that they deserve in society. The importance of Wakanda and Black Panther, in general, allows children of color to see that superheroes can be just like them, and the representations also shows children of color that it’s OK to be different, it’s OK to look different, dress different, act different, and still be the authentic self that they were meant to be.

Does this mean that Wakanda doesn’t exist to other cultures and races? Everyone has a different meaning, and interpretation, but to me Wakanda, and Black Panther is important because the representation of African Americans gives us hope for the future that is to come in our own reality.

I feel that this film and its theme is closely related, in some ways to other super hero films because each super hero film represents something to someone out there in the world, and Black Panther is our representation as an African American culture. Whether its relevant or not, this film will continue to be talked about for years to come because of its powerful representation.