Carolyn Cooper | Black Panther lives matter

I can't be the only one who thought the blockbuster Black Panther movie was about the militant US Black Panther Party. Thanks to the corporate social responsibility of ZIP 103 FM, in partnership with the National Commission on Reparations, I saw the movie in fine style two Saturdays ago.

Long after the epic adventure started, I kept wondering, "So when dem a go get to Bobby Seale an Huey P. Newton?" They were the co-founders of the Black Panther Party which erupted in Oakland, California, in 1966. I had a good laugh when it finally clicked that this movie was pure fantasy. On the surface, it has nothing to do with the reality of racial politics in America.

But when you drill down, you see that the Marvel comic-book world of Wakanda is the utopia Africans on the continent and in the diaspora desire. Not the stereotype of Africa as political corruption, famine, disease and poverty! We want Wakanda, a superpower that is technologically sophisticated, enriched by natural resources and driven by visionaries. It's the ultimate answer to racism in the West.

Black people are thoroughly enjoying the fiction. You would think we could get a visa to visit Wakanda right now; or, better still, migrate there. And talking about visas, this time for real-real African countries! Jamaicans need a visa to go to Ghana as tourists. But there is no embassy or consulate for Ghana here. The last consul retired and has not been replaced. Visa applications had to be sent to the embassy in Cuba.

This arrangement was problematic. Visa applications from Jamaicans are now being processed by the Ghanaian embassy in Washington, DC. But this has not yet been publicised, even in the embassy! Up to last week, staff were still referring Jamaicans to Cuba. I'm volunteering to be the new consul. In any case, why should Jamaicans need a visa to go to Ghana? That's where a lot of our ancestors came from. That's why we have Akan words in our language: for example, Accompong, ackee, afu, Anansi, bafan, cocobay, dokunu, doti, jinnal, mumu and nana.

 

WANNABE WAKANDANS

 

There's been a lot of singing and dancing and drumming and styling in African fashion at theatres where Black Panther has been screened. It sweet me to see how so many Jamaicans who have never ever considered wearing African clothes normally are now jumping on the bandwagon. Wannabe Wakandans! I don't know how long African style will be in the fashion. Probably as long as the Palace Amusement Company is screening the movie. It won't be held over forever.

In the meantime, the fashion for Africa is good business for designers and boutiques like Kamit Revisited, Courtney Washington, Jackie Cohen of Mutamba, Zaid Smith and Shades of Africa. Mark you, I'm not knocking the waggonists. It's good that they've discovered the distinctive beauty of African style. And they may even keep on exploring the diverse fashion cultures of the continent after the Black Panther fad is over.

Just a word of caution for the uninitiated! Make sure the 'African' clothes you're wearing are actually African. It's a tricky business. A lot of supposedly African fabrics are made in China. It's cheaper, in both senses of the word, than the authentic fabrics designed on the African continent. That's a whole other story. It's the reality of black economic disempowerment in the age of cultural appropriation and globalisation.

 

'THE GREATEST THREAT'

 

The mythical Black Panther made his first appearance in Marvel's Fantastic Four #52 in July 1966. The Black Panther Party was formed three months later. Nevertheless, the assumption was often made that it was the party that inspired the comic-book hero. And Marvel didn't like the optics. So they dropped the name and even tried to turn the panther into a leopard. Pure folly!

J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), described the Black Panther Party as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." And he launched a savage counterintelligence campaign against the party, including surveillance, infiltration and police harassment. But the threat first came from the State.

The Black Panther Party was the 'Black Lives Matter' movement of its time. It was established precisely to combat police brutality against black people. That meant armed resistance.

Some white people are labelling the Black Panther movie as racist because there are only two significant white characters in it. If they read the story accurately, they would be relieved. Erik 'Killmonger', the African-American child abandoned in the US, becomes a serial murderer fighting for the cause of black power across the globe. When he is defeated by star boy T'Challa, he chooses death over imprisonment in Wakanda. And he compares himself to all those Africans who resisted enslavement.

The romantic in me hoped Erik would have been redeemed. But bad boys must be exterminated in this make-believe world. Perhaps some filmmaker will conceive another kind of superhero movie about the Black Panther Party in which Erik's fierce spirit survives. There are documentaries. They just don't break box office records.

- Carolyn Cooper is a consultant on culture and development. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and karokupa@gmail.com.