We have all heard or seen the thrilling and action packed movie: The Black Panther with Chadwick Boseman and Michael B Jordan starring in it. With this movie sitting at a 4.5 rating, the fans begged for more and Marvel Studios gave in! This coming November 2022, Wakanda Forever — a sequel to the previous Marvel Studios film called the Black Panther, is coming out and everyone is raving about it. 

    The Black Panther stars as the king and protector of the imaginary nation of Wakanda due to the death of his father. A powerful antagonist puts himself up against T’Challa (The Black Panther) in hopes of taking over the nation as king. The Black Panther is put up against a lot of adversity throughout the movie and is expected to battle it out for his nation’s safety.

    In the movie, the nation of Wakanda is the most technologically advanced empire in the world. This highlights the idea of something called afrofuturism, afrofuturism is defined as an aesthetic or an art form that has run through since the 1970s, it could also be described as a practice, or methodology that allows black people to see themselves in the future despite a distressing past and present. 

The Black Panther highlights afrofuturistic ideals because it advocates for African women in technology and the military and the misrepresentation of Africa in western culture.

 A key female character in the movie includes T’Challa’s younger sister, T’Chaka. She is a part of the Wakandan Design Group and handles all of the technology that is used in the nation of Wakanda including The Black Panther’s suit and weapons, and all of the military ships used in battles. Another significant woman is Okoye, the general of the female warrior group called Dora Milaje. She serves as the elite bodyguard force for the royal family and kingdom of Wakanda, she and a group of highly trained women are the face of the military in a nation in need of protection and safety. 

The misrepresentation of Africa in western culture is shown throughout the movie a number of times through any contact with westerners. It resulted in a lot of assumptions towards the Wakandans and Wakanda itself being a third world country that lacked any technology, let alone advanced technology. Prior to knowing what kind of state  Wakanda was in, an American character believed it to be a country primarily full of poverty. 

Especially in today’s generation, afrofuturistic ideals are being spread throughout the media on a daily basis through creators, influencers, artists, musicians, or even fashion icons. These influential people advocate for better futures for black people and for all people through their content and art forms. English teacher Ms. Turner says, “Afrofuturism is a really important thing to learn about now while they are young because it can come in different forms like poetry, music, legacy, or even fashion. I have my students learn and educate themselves on the broader idea of afrofuturism because it is so important to open their eyes to new things or things they might already know but they don’t even notice how significant it is to our society.”

In simple terms afrofuturism is understood as a social, political and artistic movement that imagines a perfect world for African-descended people where their cultures are kept sacred and safe. 

There are many different forms of afrofuturism that you probably already know or heard of, one being the most popular: Black Panther, LOYALTY sung by Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna, Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse a film by Marvel, All the Stars sung by Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA, Black Is King a film by Beyoncé, etc. 

Afrofuturism is everywhere and it is so important that we educate ourselves on the ideals that it brings to our society