We were worried as Baby Boomers if we would connect with this young, hip cinema narrative that felt like a mix of the Lion King, Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings.
We were pleasantly surprised. As I sat through the film, I could not have been prouder of my generation that gave the world the civil rights movement and the post-racial generation of my children who must implement the dream of an inclusive planet. The Black Panther masterpiece reflects this inclusion story and its potential to make the created order a more inhabitable place. It is irrefutable evidence that the struggle to build workplaces that look like, talk like, act like and think like our customers is not only the right thing to do for business but simply the right thing to do.
Who would have thought that a movie?
- With a predominately Black cast, Black director and women of color with strong leadership roles, would be the highest grossing movie of 2018.
- Where people of color who are super heroes and role models would have world-wide appeal.
- With an Afrocentric viewpoint of the world would be of interest to anybody.
- With essentially two White characters (1 good guy and 1 bad one) would fill theaters on opening weekend.
- Based on internationalism would triumph over our current isolationist world order.
- Within a divisive world, would serve as a role model to millions of children of color that super hero status is within their grasp.
- Would strike a chord with young women of color that the indomitable female hand that rocks the cradle rocks the world as they take up the mantle of leadership.
The Black Panther movie chases down the legacy of slavery against African Americans who struggle:
- To figure out who they are and where they come from.
- To live their lives under a burden of history that denied their humanity.
- By looking backward instead of forward as they try to recoup their losses from an economic system that exploited them and elevated others.
- To stay a-float in a privileged world that rewards Whiteness and abhors Blackness.
The Black Panther picture has a little something for everyone. As it raises the boats of our Black brothers and sisters, it raises the boats of us all. It opens our eyes and ears to an alternative narrative that our history books and teachers failed to tell us. It is cracks open the door to a conference room where people of color voices have not been invited to.
It is a story of inclusion. If only we will listen to it.
