Wakanda Forever De-Centers Whiteness and Revalorizes Blackness

It’s much-needed therapy for all Black people

I had goosebumps as I watched the opening scene of Wakanda Forever. My heart raced in my chest as I re-familiarized myself with the enchanting and vibrantly beautiful land of Wakanda. In so many ways, it reminded me of my native continent Africa.

Sitting there in the cinema, I felt proud of this moment, so usually lacking in American cinema. Africa was seen in a favorable light and regarded as a rich and powerful continent. It was a far cry from the usual images of a corrupt, illness-ridden, and poor continent that the West loves to use to define the whole of Africa.

I was elated, and ever so proud to be watching this film with my white husband and biracial daughter. There were so few moments in my daughter’s 17 years on earth where we’d watched a movie or documentary that valorized Africa rather than the opposite. I wanted the film to never end, I was so content.

The story of Wakanda Forever de-centers whiteness in a way I have rarely seen before. There are basically two annoying white “Karens” in the whole movie and their screen time is really minimal. It’s refreshing to see the story focus on Black and brown characters — to see them as main, central, and supporting characters.

The film depicts a conflict between Black and brown people that ends in a truce. If it had been Black or brown people against white people, you’d have seen a supremacist narrative sneak its way into the blockbuster to convince the audience that the Black or brown people were uncivilized and thus inferior and that the white folks were civilized, hence better and superior. The whole thing would have ended with white people killing Black and brown people to demonstrate said superiority, like the hundreds of western movies ever made, where white cowboys always win against brown Indigenous people.

We are saved from that narrative in Wakanda Forever and that’s a good thing. The reality is that over 80 percent of people in the world today are brown or Black. There is a high probability that these nations will be the geopolitical giants of the future, and power will inevitably shift to them. This reality is firmly embedded within the movie’s narrative.

Throughout the show, Wakanda Forever reinforces its ties to Africa. The first installment — Black Panther — depicts a land that bears similarities to the continent for sure, but this second installment is fully inclusive of at least half a dozen African tribes. Among others, there are the Wodaabe and the Surma tribes. These tribes are embodied by the paintings and scarifications on many of the character's faces, as well as their style of dress. It is also represented in their names, Okoye, which is very close to Okeye (a Luo name — Barack Obama is part Luo), and in some of the words from African languages that are skillfully inserted into the script.

There are also hidden clues — the future of Wakanda lies in the hands of a young boy named Toussaint. Toussaint L’Ouverture was a courageous Black slave who led the rebellion against white slave owners in Haiti in 1793. It is because of Toussaint that enslaved Black people around the world began to revolt. He holds a key role in our collective Black consciousness.

Like many Black people, Wakanda Forever is a film that I have been waiting for for most of my life. It shows Black people in positions of power, strength, anger, happiness, frustration, elation, and what have you, it doesn’t lock us up into a negative narrative or set us up to satisfy the white gaze for white contentment.

I especially love when Queen Ramonda of Wakanda enters the UN in Geneva and confronts white colonizers with their cunning and deceitful actions. It’s a moment of pure delectation for me — being able to call out white colonialist powers on their bull*** and show them for the hypocrites that they are without white fragility trying to soften that message.

I applaud the film director’s courage to show things as they are — as they have always been by the way. Colonizers were cruel, and yes they gave smallpox-infested blankets to tribes to completely wipe them out. They didn’t play fair, they were bullies and crooks. And that’s how America came to be. It was birthed on the premise of abominable deceit.

I approve of Wakanda Forever. My question now is how are white people going to take it? Will it be like with Black Panther, will they welcome a show where they are not centered? Will white women accept a show where their beauty isn’t revered and the center of the whole narrative? Would it be possible for white people to watch a film about Black people — about Black pain, happiness, and excellence? Would they be able to put away their egos and just watch us be? Because the fact is, Black people, have been watching movies with only white people for decades — most times we really didn’t have much of a choice. Are white people able to do the same for the space of Wakanda Forever? I’m curious.

Because the reality is, Black people are not an inferior race. It is not because we were sold into slavery or colonized that we are not worthy of being valorized or seen as the great civilizations that we were and still are. White supremacy has carried negative narratives about Black folks for centuries but it is about time that white people and also Black people learned about the greatness of Wakanda aka Africa and the wonderful contributions that we have brought to humanity. Because the fact is, our Black Lives have always Mattered.

Thank you for reading my perspective.