Black Panther takes viewers on a journey to a fictional African nation, Wakanda, filled with wealth, advanced technology, and, most importantly, strong Black leaders. Amongst them, King T’Challa stands out as an individual fighting for the protection and continued existence of his nation, which to non-Wakandan’s is a third world country struggling to survive. The narrative takes viewers through T’Challa’s fight for power as a new member of the royal clang emerges, the American Killmonger, and briefly leads Wakanda towards a vengeful overthrowing of the world through violence. As this occurs, the film provides glimpses into the points of view of various characters with competing notions of racial consciousness and black internationalism. At its core, the narrative allows viewers to wrestle with the question of whether Wakanda should open its resources to Black people all around the world and stand up for those that have been oppressed for generations. However, in its journey to the answer, the film undoubtedly villainizes the radical methods proposed for freeing Blacks in other nations.

 

“If the world found out what we truly are, what we possess, we could lose our way of life.”-T’Challa

As our first point of view, T’Challa’s logic is one of a protector. Given the experiences of Black individuals across the world—the ways in which they have been oppressed, mistreated, and regarded as less than—it is not dumbfounded that T’Challa wants to keep his people save from those ills. He knows that if Wakanda is viewed as anything other than a third world country, others will come in and steal its resources and attempt to overthrow all they have built. However, in attempting to protect his own, T’Challa is blatantly disregarding the experiences of those who are not shielded (literally) by the walls of Wakanda and abandoning them in the same way the rest of the world has. He is prioritizing safety and longevity over solidarity.

 

“You let the refugees in, you let in all their problems.” -W’Kabi

When T’Challa begins considering the ways in which Wakanda can aid the world—primarily by allowing those in need to come in to its border—viewers are faced with another answer to the film’s question. W’Kabi urges T’Challa to keep the borders closed, in fear of ending Wakanda, but goes on to propose that they to go out into the world and conquer territories. This leads viewers to assume that while bringing refugees in is not desirable, nations with access to immense resources should be obligated to help those in need around the world. In this way, the film makes a large commentary on the refugee crisis occurring all over the world during the movie’s premier. While the conquering perspective is one that leads back to a long journey of torture for those colonized, the key point remains that Wakanda, and countries like it, should not sit back and watch those in need suffer.

 

““The world’s gonna start over, and this time we’re on top. The sun will never set on the Wakandan empire.”-Killmonger

As the film’s most radical character, Killmonger is portrayed as an individual who has internalized the colonizers’ predilection for aggression and dominance. His words are quite similar to those uttered about the British Empire, “on which the sun never sets.” The “sun” part is an allusion to a famous saying about the British Empire at the height of its powers. It meant that because Britain had so much colonial territory around the world that it was literally always daytime in at least some part of the empire. While his desires are valid, wanting to set free the individuals who have been shackled since the days of slavery, Killmonger’s violent extremes, portrayed by desires to conquer the world by killing anyone who opposes him, allows viewers to see him in the light of a villain who is just as bad as the world’s colonizers. In this lies my biggest critique of the film. Taking into account Killmonger’s death, and the ways in which he has been excluded from Wakanda and its community, his opinions are shoved under the rug and villainized when in reality he is fighting for Blacks across the world to have access to something that is technically ‘theirs,’ by virtue of Wakanda being the birthplace of all.

 

“Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows…We will work to be an example of how we as brothers and sisters on this earth should treat each other. Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than divides us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe.” T’Challa

While Killmonger was widely villainized, in the end credits of the movie viewers are able to witness the ways in which T’Challa shifts the standard of Wakanda and, in non-violent ways, adopts what Killmonger desired. Though at one point afraid of change, by the end of the movie T’Challa stands for global black solidarity. He establishes an outreach center at the building in Oakland where N’Jobu died and intends for the center to the first in a series of efforts by Wakanda to help uplift impoverished communities around the world. Nonetheless, his change of mind, while admirable in that it aims to empower the larger Black community, would have been more powerful if instead of letting Killmonger die he would have attempted to work with him in order to fulfil the necessary narrative shift with the help of someone who has actually lived outside of Wakanda. Largely, while Black Panther will always be an admirable movie filled with much needed representation, it is vital that viewers take into account the larger messages the film portrays when it comes to the Black freedom Struggle.