Wakanda Forever: Reimagining Africa’s Future in Black Panther
As this week’s cultural resource, I have chosen the 2018 movie Black Panther. It is a representation of an alternative that was envisioned to exist outside of the social, political, and economic conditions prevalent at the time of the creation of this movie. Helmed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther is set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, an eminently advanced society whose technology is well into the future, with a culture that is a remarkable blend between African tradition and modernity. What sets Wakanda apart is its isolationism and independence, which cultivate the cover of its vast wealth in vibranium-a metal so sophisticated it allows the development of advanced technology. This is a cultural artifact that, through its world-building, offers the world an alternative to real-world conditions faced by and pertinent to African nations, both throughout history and into the present day.
The central reimagined alternative that Black Panther offers is of a prosperous, technologically advanced African nation that has never been colonized. For centuries, the place of Africa has been an idea-one of colonization and exploitation-wherein western powers have carved up the continent for its resources, fashioning from it a legacy of economic disparity, political instability, and underdevelopment. Wakanda, on the other hand, is simply the plot of an African nation that retains its resources, develops in isolation, and becomes a world leader through innovation. The vision places Africa in such dependence on the other three continents, which contrasts with the Eurocentric view by showing another reality-one in which African agency and success create African-led global progress.
The depiction of Wakanda also reimagines social hierarchies and relationships of power. The kingdom is ruled by a monarchy but one in which women play integral roles within leadership, war, and technological development. Characters like Shuri, the head of Wakandan technological development, and the Dora Milaje, an elite all-female military unit, cut across traditional patriarchal structures that have been associated with African nations and the global community. The movie turns around the stereotype of the contemporary African woman in media and gives a future where the African woman is empowered, influential, and indistinguishable from the progress of the nation. This alternative social structure is then juxtaposed against the realities that women in much of Africa, and indeed around the world, face in terms of systemic inequality in political representation, educational opportunities, and economic participation.
Another serious recasting of an alternative in Black Panther pertains to a political vision of pan-African unity. In this respect, the film actively engages in the ideas of the African diaspora and how Africans interact with African Americans through Erik Killmonger as a figure representative of a displaced, marginalized, and longing attitude ensconced within the African American experience for the sense of attachment to ancestral roots. That is, the tension between Killmonger and T’Challa namely, Wakanda’s king-represents the fractured relationship between Africans who live on the continent and those in the diaspora, historically severed by slavery and colonialism. Wakanda’s eventual decision to share its technology and knowledge with the rest of the world-especially under resourced communities of African descent-imagines an alternate reality to a contemporary deficit of solidarity and resource sharing amongst and between African nations and their diaspora. The other vision that Black Panther offers would be greatly in need of technological changes but especially systematic ones to realize itself. The development in Wakanda is premised on the fictional metal called vibranium, but the foundational notion here is that African countries hold resources which would spur development if protected from exploitation. Realistically, such transformation would require some systemic changes, including more equitable global trade practices, investment in education, infrastructure, and technology, protection of Africa’s resources from foreign exploitation. This would also mean that the gender equality expressed through Wakanda would have to be a systemic change in the way African societies and governments emphasize women’s rights and opportunities, breaking down patriarchal norms that deny women access to education, leadership, and economic opportunities.
It’s fascinating to note that elements of this Wakandan imaginary alternative are starting to mirror current global conditions, if not quite to the degree as expressed in the film. For instance, many African countries are growing in technological advancement at a very fast pace, and technological innovations are taking place in aspects such as mobile banking and healthcare, among others. In addition, the roles played by women in African societies are changing little by little; women now assume leadership positions in politics, business, and so forth. The full vision of Wakanda, however, is an Africa devoid of specters of colonialism, thriving in her making and leading the world technologically-for the large part, it is an imagined alternative. That plays against the brilliant future which the movie depicts, as most African nations are still wrangling with systemic inequalities, underdevelopment, and sometimes external exploitations.
At the end, Black Panther can indeed represent an empowered alternative vision for existing social, political, and economic conditions through the narration of African self-sufficiency, gender equality, and pan-African unity. While some of these visions have begun to manifest in reality, others depend on huge leaps in technology and systemic changes regarding actual implementation. The movie presents an enabling narrative, which dares to contest global hegemonic formations in terms of a possible future where African countries drive the world forward with innovation and fairness.
Reference
Coogler, R. (2018). Black Panther [Video]. 123movies. https://ww17.0123movie.net/movie/black-panther-23800.html
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