My very first superhero crush was Spiderman. I wanted to be Wonder Woman and I wanted to marry Spiderman. He was just cool with his picture taking and his webbed crime fighting and she was, well, she was fucking Wonder Woman whose arm bands and lasso were my dream accessories. These of which have now been replaced with my collection of shoes and soccer jerseys. Then came Leia. Leia for me was the end all be all of superheroes. I wanted to be her with every fiber of my body, not to mention Han Solo. She didn’t have any special powers, but I wanted to be her just the same. My brother and I would climb trees and run around the back yard pretending to have light sabers and fly because I grew up in a time where you didn’t get everything you wanted, nor could you afford it.

It was a blissful time when my brother and I took on our superhero personas. It took my mind off of my parent’s fighting and their struggles, it bonded us as siblings and it made me want to be stronger. To this day, Leia represents a part of me that encompasses all that I want to be— a rebel, a strong woman who looks good in a sheet, and fights for what she wants, and hair goals, duh. Later my cousin would introduce me to the world of Marvel and DC comic books which I would read religiously to get me through my parent’s divorce and my migration to RVA.

We most definitely need a superhero right now in America, don’t you think? I was scrolling this morning, doing my ritual sighing as I read about death, destruction, politics, and shootings. I always feel absolutely disgusted by the headlines, but it is the preverbal trainwreck I can’t seem to look away from. This morning I was struck with sadness as I looked at these beautiful children pay tribute to their fallen hero, Black Panther, aka Chadwick Boseman. With names like Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others being shouted out to them, now they have to also endure the pain of losing the most tangible for them, Black Panther. My heart hurts for the Black community right now, it hurts for the world most days, but I’m focussed on how our society has been completely destroyed in one presidency and how we are going to come out of this. Black Panther represented a pride and a strength that white people have always been accustomed to with their heroes. It is a beautiful thing when people can take art and it mean something on so many different levels. He represented something a lot more important than a comic book character, beyond race.

I want to talk about revolution, but I don’t feel this is the piece for that. I just wanted to pay tribute a superhero/actor who changed the way people saw themselves. A character who gave strength and pride to many, what should be what we look up to. He gave those children a face, he gave a race something to fight for and those kids whose Marvel action figures are all looking down on a fallen Black Panther something to believe in. It took me a very long time to find the idols I grew to love that resembled me, that I could relate to, that struggled with the same things I did. So, thank you to Boseman for his dedication to his craft and for creating characters who stand on their own and help those kids, those people become stronger, more prideful and with confidence. It is important to for these characters on film and in television to endure and educate.

May you rest in peace Chadwick, you left a legacy and more than most of us do in a lifetime. May others take that power and responsibility continue to put it out in the world. Life is shit enough as it is without all the noise that has bombarded us, let’s celebrate those who bring light out of the darkness. Wakanda forever.