The Fictional world of Wakanda, as brilliantly and colorfully shown in Marvel’s New Blockbuster film, The Black Panther. Debuted at an amazing $442 million, has captured the imaginations world-wide. It would be an understatement to call it a Cultural Phenomenon.
Black theater goers piling into theaters with their Dashikis and snacks with joyous anticipation to see a successful and technologically advanced black nation, that is unfettered by the chains of racism; Jim Crow, redlining, gentrification, food Deserts, or colonization. In the immortal words of Rico Wade on Outkast’s Players Ball “talking about a Black Man’s Heaven here”. But what makes Wakanda so great is a question not answered by merely looking at the surface level facts shared in the Movie or even the comics. The answer to this question is, “What can make Wakanda a real possibility for Black People today”? Right here right now in the real world, not just a figment of the Marvel Universe.
Upon doing some research you will learn that Wakanda was based off of a real country based in Ancient
Africa, according to Chadwick Bosman the lead actor of Black Panther as told to the New York Times. The kingdom was loosely based off of the Prolific Mutapa empire of the 15 century Zimbabwe. Both the kingdoms were prosperous, technologically advanced and had numerous natural resources. Just exchange Wakanda Vibranium for Mutapas gold.
A Deeper look at History unfiltered by western illusion, will reveal that that technological advancement in the ancient world was the standard, not the exception for Black Kingdoms. There are only 2 nations that are responsible for the writing systems that we use today. They were both were Black Nations Ancient Egypt (Khamit or Taui) and Sumer.
We could also examine other firsts such as; medicine, science, math, architecture, metal working and engineering achieved by these and other black nations that have become the basis of western civilization.
Thanks to the Greeks, who copied books from the Library of Alexandria or any ship that came to port during that time. A lot this knowledge was preserved and falsely taken credit for. Unfortunately, with the burning of the Library of Alexandria a lot the information was lost. Imagine how advanced the world would be today?See, the Basis of this black achievement was a deep connection with our bloodlines, the inner planes, the Exalted Ancestors, nature, and its cycles. Because Wakanda is a place never conquered and Colonized it gives us a chance to see the basis of this ancient innovation live on screen.
Without the deep connection to the inner-world through meditation and ritual, even vibranium (though the rarest and most precious metal in the Marvel Universe) would just be another mineral in the ground. Even in the real world, Black people sit on numerous resources, like the trillion dollars of buying power that we exhibited in the success of this film, the wealth of spiritual knowledge and culture that’s locked in much of our DNAs’, and the rich mineral resources of the Mother Continent that are owned and exploited by the powers that be.
This situation is direct result of losing the connections that made us great in the past.
May Wakanda inspire us to revisit those connections and return to Black Achievement again.
Wakanda State of Mind forever.
AumaShep Nekhi