Our Culture, The Real Vibranium
With the recent passing of Chadwick Boseman, I've been thinking about vibranium. Yes, that fictional smart metal that protects, heals, and absorbs. It's basically indestructible. In fact, the more you try to destroy it, the stronger it gets. In the movie Black Panther, vibranium is a natural resource found in Wakanda, a fictional country in Africa.
The Black Panther, T'Challa (Boseman) is the king of Wakanda; and for many generations Wakandan leaders harvested and used natural resources to advance the nation technologically and physically.
There is literally a vibranium shield that protects the country from outside influences.
Wakanda is a magical place in Africa that was never colonized by foreign nations. The people of Wakanda are proud and diverse. They use their differences as strengths, like puzzle pieces. Each tribe has its place and plays an important role in the big picture.
History, humanity, culture, diversity, and community matter in Wakanda. I would venture to say that those qualities are in real life are the real vibranium.
In the backdrop of Boseman's death, the coronavirus and our current political and social unrest, I am thinking about our culture and history -- our real vibranium. What would happen in America if we used our humanity, our stories, and our love for each other to advance, to protect, to heal, and to shield ourselves from adversities?
In Black Panther, T'Challa not only visits the "ancestral plane." He is also briefly buried to talk with his ancestors prior to gaining power. So, in this moment of reflection, I'm reminded of past generations.
I'm reminded of those ancestors who survived and thrived despite all the forces against them. We should gain strength and knowledge from the real - life stories of people like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Sojourner Truth.
All three were born slaves, escaped to freedom, and then went out to speak against slavery and draw others to freedom.
Like a vibranium force, their stories and resilience should give us the strength to weather storms and the knowledge to reflect and to advance despite all of the forces against us.
The great thing about the real vibranium is that we do not have to go to Wakanda or to any faraway place to get it. History and culture are in us and all around us. We just have to be willing to seek it and use it to inform our work as T'Challa did.
For example, I recently learned about an African- American power couple in 1890's Grand Rapids. Emma and Joseph Ford lived during a time when many odds were against them; however, Joe and Emma managed some extraordinary accomplishments.
In fact, I really don't see how they were able to do all they achieved without some superpower. It had to be real vibranium. Emma was from Canada, and Joe moved to Michigan from Virginia shortly after the Civil War. Newspaper accounts from the 1890s indicate that they were very active socially, politically, religiously, and philanthropically.
In 1893, the couple ran what the Grand Rapids Press called the best and most popular restaurant on Mackinac Island. At the same time Joe was the cloakroom attendant for the state legislature, was for a local railroad a parlor car conductor, and was in the real estate business.
In addition to being a restauranteur, Emma was a socialite, public servant, and national lecturer. Emma and Joe were really active on the religious scene here in Grand Rapids and were major players in raising money for church and community initiatives.
They were responsible for bringing national figures like Booker T. Washington to Grand Rapids in the early 1900s.
"Senator Joe" was a staunch Republican and was the cloakroom attendant for the legislature in Lansing for 50 years.
The outspoken Emma played important roles in both county and state branches of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She was also a founding member of the Married Ladies Nineteenth Century Club and the Phyllis Wheatley Club here in Grand Rapids during the Progressive Era. Emma and Senator Joe Ford were a big deal, and they were known nationally. I have found articles about them in several national newspapers: for example, the Colored American, which was published in Washington DC from 1893 to 1904. Without the internet or any sophisticated means of communicating and traveling, they accomplished a lot.
It must have been that vibranium pumping in their blood.
Black Panther made us fall in love with the idea of the black superhero. It was a cultural phenomenon that made us proud to be black, proud to be different, and proud to a part of a people with such rich culture and history.
Although the Black Panther was fictional, Chadwick Boseman became a real - life hero to many of us. After his untimely death, I heard a commentator say that "Chadwick is an ancestor now." That means that his walk should serve as a path for others. His story, like that of the Fords and many others, should serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration.
So, take a cue from T'Challa.
Visit our "ancestral plane" to gain power and to use your vibranium shield to be captains in this America.
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