Research Question: Is the film “Black Panther” an accurate portrayal of what Africa could have been had it not been colonized by Europeans?
The Marvel Studios Film, “Black Panther” is based off of the Marvel Comic Book series Black Panther. The film takes place in fictional country entitled Wakanda; that resides hidden on the continent of Africa. Wakanda is displayed as a technologically highly advanced nation, from artificial intelligence to medicine to weaponry. All of which is made possible by an extraterrestrial element known as vibranium, dictated as the hardest metal on Earth, that landed on the continent in the form of a meteorite. The land was significantly impacted by the element because it allowed for the flourishing of the ecosystem, from
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This lead to the people who lived on the land to grow, develop and prosper as they learned how to cultivate the element. Vibranium, became the foundation on which Wakanda was built. Through cultivation, the Wakandans were able to figure out a way to remain hidden and keep their advancements to themselves. Because of this ability and their technological advancements, Wakanda was able to escape and not be affected at all by the colonization and enslavement of the rest of the continent of Africa by Europeans, thus never displacing them. The film, therefore breeds the question of whether or not the actual continent of Africa could have flourished the same way as dictated in the film based on their own resources and given the time and opportunity to be left to their own devices. Based on the natural resources, various communities/ tribes and factors of sustainability that occupy Africa, and the time lapsed between 2018 and precolonial Africa, it is difficult to conclude if there is a possibility that if the
How does the documentary contradict, support, and clarify, etc. your understanding of contemporary African culture, history and politics?
Minstrel shows were developed in the 1840's and reached its peak after the Civil War. They managed to remain popular into the early 1900s. The Minstrel shows were shows in which white performers would paint their faces black and act the role of an African American. This was called black facing. The minstrel show evolved from two types of entertainment popular in America before 1830: the impersonation of blacks given by white actors between acts of plays or during circuses, and the performances of black musicians who sang, with banjo accompaniment, in city streets. The 'father of American minstrelsy' was Thomas Dartmouth 'Daddy' Rice, who between 1828 and 1831 developed a song-and-dance routine in which he impersonated an old, crippled black slave, dubbed Jim Crow. Jim Crow was a fool who just spent his whole day slacking off, dancing the day away with an occasional mischievous prank such as stealing a watermelon from a farm. Most of the skits performed on the Minstrel shows symbolized the life of the African American plantations slaves. This routine achieved immediate popularity, and Rice performed it with great success in the United States and Britain, where he introduced it in 1836. Throughout the 1830s, up to the founding of the minstrel show proper, Rice had many imitators.
For centuries, Africans in France’s colonies have faced racism and degradation from white citizens who saw themselves as superior. These minorities have been France’s slaves, servants, soldiers, and even lambs for slaughter even though they served France faithfully. Their inhumane treatment and struggle to gain independence from France have been the subject of a few films. Films like Days of Glory, Camp Thiaroye, The Battle of Algiers, and Black Girl have portrayed the oppression and dehumanization of Africans by French whites during and after World War II.
During the 1960s, many Black Americans drew attention to the inequalities among races in society. Protest groups formed and demonstrations highlighting discrimination towards dark people were a common practice for civil rights activists. Some activists believed non-violence was the only way to overcome, and others, such as Anne Moody and the Black Panthers, had a more aggressive attitude towards gaining freedom. In her autobiography, The Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne Moody describes the hardships of growing up in the heavily racist South, and displays the “price you pay daily for being Black.” (p.361) She grows tired of seeing her Black companions beaten, raped, murdered, and denied their opportunity to prosper in the land of plenty: America. The Black Panthers’ assertive mindset was aimed to exemplify the injustices of a prejudiced society that denied Blacks the power to determine their own destiny. At a young age, Anne realizes that there is something that gives Whites privilege over Blacks. She thinks that there is a secret to why Blacks always have to watch a movie from the balcony while Whites watch from the floor. Both Anne Moody and the Black Panthers discover this secret, and use an assertive approach in their civil rights activism for social and political reform that would finally give Blacks the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that are granted to all Americans. The secret was racial discrimination.
Deprived of social equality and economic prosperity, The Black Panther Party emerged as the leading group seeking public reform. The group’s most prominent and revolutionary leaders, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, proposed a set of demands called “The Black Panther Platform: What We Want, What We Believe”. Structured similarly to the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence, this list addressed and proposed solutions to structural obstacles such as education and employment that were built upon hegemonic ideas. These solutions became known as counter hegemonic ideologies,- ideologies that challenged the existing hegemony and evoked resistance.
Founded on October 15th 1966 in Oakland, California, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense was an organization opposed to police brutality against the black community. The Party’s political origins were in Maoism, Marxism, and the radical militant ideals of Malcolm X and Che Guevara. From the doctrines of Maoism they saw the role of their Party as the frontline of the revolution and worked to establish a unified alliance, while from Marxism they addressed the capitalist economic system, and exemplified the need for all workers to forcefully take over means of production (Baggins, Brian). Mao was important to the Black Panthers because of his different stance on Marxism-Leninism when applied to Chinese peasants. The founders of the Black Panther Party, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale saw links between the Chinese peasants and the oppression of blacks in America and used Mao’s “little red book” as a guideline for social revolution (Baggins, Brian).
During the period after the emancipation many African Americans are hoping for a better future with no one as their master but themselves, however, according to the documentary their dream is still crushed since even after liberation, as a result of the bad laws from the federal government their lives were filled with forced labor, torture and brutality, poverty and poor living conditions. All this is shown in film.
Black Superheroes, Where are They? Think back to your favorite marvel movies, you may think of characters like Iron Man, Thor, or even Spiderman. These are all great superheroes that have saved the world more than once, but the only problem is with this is these characters are all white, where are the black superheroes. I found a website titled “The Top 100 Marvel Superheroes” and according to this website there is only one black superhero in the top 15. This needs to change, this website referring to the comics, I looked more in depth to see if this trait carried over to movies and sure enough it did, nothing has changed.
The first issue of the Black Panther Newspaper featured Denzil Dowell’s murder by the Martinez police in North Richmond. The newspaper played a very significant role in the African American community. This newspaper was run by the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. The Party had a significant impact on society and is credited for the massive amount of improvements in the equal human rights movement. The Black Panther newspaper shed light upon the social injustices such as unjust killing faced by African Americans like Denzil Dowell. The Black Panther newspaper, unlike other conventional newspapers, showed the brutal treatment of Blacks. The newspaper became a strong element of the Black Panther Party; it provided the African
Guns in hand, more than two dozen Black Panthers promenaded into the California State Legislature to rebel against a gun-control bill. This excessive stunt increased the recognition of the Black Panther Political Party making them the new leaders and image of the Black Power Movement and from this they have gained many supporters, worldwide, for their ideology of black nationalism (Joseph 210). In the midst of a non-violent movement, the panthers propagated their aggressive rhetoric in order to shed light on the stagnant pace of the civil rights movement and the continued mistreatment of blacks by whites. By using rhetoric, the Black Panther Party strongly encouraged self-defense for African American if need be. Together the men and women of the party took dynamic actions to combat racial discrimination. Although both genders collaborated on diminishing racial inequalities, another inequality unfolded within the party (“The Black Panthers”). One of the visions for the Black Panther was to protect all oppressed minorities, but ironically the oppressed a minority which were African American women. Because of sexism within the Black Panther Party, the infrastructure has been damaged due to the recurring conflict between both genders.
The image of African Americans has been greatly depreciated by the roles they play on television sitcoms. On these shows African Americans are depicted as being maids, clowns, and buffoons. This misrepresentation of African Americans has become common place through out the media. One of the most controversial sitcoms was the Amos ‘n Andy Show. This sitcom included two black comedic men and began the creation of the African American stereotypes that most people have grown accustom to today.
The Black Panther Movement made a progressive contribution to the US and civil rights. In order for a person to understand what the Civil Rights movement was, they would need to understand what political movements were involved, that made a big impact on the Black Community. What was the Civil Rights movement? The Civil Rights movement lasted from the late 1960s and early 1970s. But, the Civil Rights was not born during that time. When Abraham Lincoln was President, he had signed an agreement named the Emancipation Proclamation. This Proclamation was addressed to emancipate all of the slaves that were written on paper. If they were to leave their job as a slave they would have had no where to go and no money, so they still worked for their previous slave owners to get paid and have a life of their own. Other than Abraham Lincoln, who practically saved the black race, there were many others who were involved in the civil rights. They themselves created their own movement inside the civil rights to help give the black community freedom of speech and to stop the government from what the black community thought was racist.
The Black Panther Party was born to elevate the political, social, and economic status of Blacks. The means the Party advocated in their attempt to advance equality were highly unconventional and radical for the time, such as social programs for under privileged communities and armed resistance as a means of self preservation. The Party made numerous contributions to Black’s situation as well as their esteem, but fell victim to the ‘system’ which finds it nearly impossible to allow Blacks entry into the dominant culture. Thus, the rise and fall of a group of Black radicals, as presented by Elaine Brown in A Taste of Power, can be seen to represent the overall plight of the American Black: a system which finds it impossible to give Blacks equality.
Africa has had a long and tumultuous road of colonization and decolonization the rush to colonize Africa started in the 17th century with the discovery of the vast amounts of gold, diamonds, and rubber with colonization hitting a fever pitch during World War I. However, the repercussions of colonization have left deep wounds that still remain unhealed in the 21st century. Early on, European nations such as Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium scrambled for territories. Countries wanted land so they could harvest the resources, increase trade, and gain power. The European colonization of Africa brought racism, civil unrest, and insatiable greed; all of which have had lasting impacts on Africa.
An overwhelming majority of African nations has reclaimed their independence from their European mother countries. This did not stop the Europeans from leaving a permanent mark on the continent however. European colonialism has shaped modern-day Africa, a considerable amount for the worse, but also some for the better. Including these positive and negative effects, colonialism has also touched much of Africa’s history and culture especially in recent years.