<p>If you were amongst those that piled into theaters this past weekend to see the long awaited Marvel film, &#8216;<strong><em>Black Panther</em></strong>&#8216;, I&#8217;m sure of a few things.</p>
<ol>
<li>I know you waited in a line.</li>
<li>I know there was at least one crying child in your theatre.</li>
<li>I know you witnessed the show of African inspired outfits.</li>
</ol>
<p>There was something truly beautiful in the entire experience that I cannot put into words. It was one of those moments that you just had to be there to understand. I didn&#8217;t feel as though I was sitting in a theater filled with strangers. Every person there felt of Kin (in the south, that&#8217;s short for family).</p>
<p>There have been those people saying, &#8220;it&#8217;s just a comic, stop making it about race&#8221;. But I can say this, although it was a comic, there was something beautiful in the underlying message and images that brought us all together. But enough about that, let&#8217;s get to the good stuff.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">*SPOILER ALERT! If you haven&#8217;t seen the movie, you should probably stop here* </span></strong></p>
<p>The women of Black Panther were all forces to be reckoned with. From T&#8217;challa&#8217;s mother, sister, ex-girlfriend, and the Dora warriors.</p>
<p>I want to delve into each of the 4 leading women to show you what I drew from each of their characters.</p>
<p><img class="wp-image-2015 aligncenter" src="https://queentoqueens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_4935.jpg" width="578" height="289" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#800000;">Nakia</span></strong></p>
<p>I had to start here. Why? Well, tell me the last time you saw a movie where the love interest was of a darker complexion? I&#8217;ll wait.<a href="http://queentoqueens.com/2018/02/19/what-black-panther-taught-us-about-black-women/giphy-8/" rel="attachment wp-att-2023"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2023 aligncenter" src="https://queentoqueens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/giphy2.gif?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="169" /></a></p>
<p>We know that colorism is something stitched into the fabrics of the African-American community. Women with deeper hues have long been portrayed as angry, ugly, or the &#8216;best friend&#8217; (<em>think Pam from &#8216;Martin&#8217;</em>). But here, Nakia shows women with natural hair and beautiful brown skin as desirable in a way that isn&#8217;t hypersexual. I also love that she really challenges this idea that in order for women to be desired, they have to be timid and negotiate their dreams and aspirations for a man they love. In fact, T&#8217;Challa loved her <strong>because </strong>she was strong and didn&#8217;t give up on the things she believed to be important.</p>
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<p><img class="wp-image-2017 aligncenter" src="https://queentoqueens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_4936.jpg" width="508" height="212" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#800000;">Ramonda</span></strong></p>
<p>T&#8217;Challa&#8217;s mother was another great reference to the strength of Black women. She was so poised and graceful that many times throughout the movie, I&#8217;d forgotten that this woman&#8217;s husband had <strong>JUST</strong> died! As many Black mother&#8217;s do, she kept the family together in spite of everything that was going on around her.</p>
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<p><img class="wp-image-2018 aligncenter" src="https://queentoqueens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_4937.jpg" width="643" height="268" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#800000;">Okoye and the Dora Milaje warriors</span></strong></p>
<p>Okay, can we talk about it? I mean <strong>REALLY</strong> talk about it.</p>
<p><a href="http://queentoqueens.com/2018/02/19/what-black-panther-taught-us-about-black-women/2018-02-19-11-04-19-2280-0-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-2027"><img class="wp-image-2027 aligncenter" src="https://queentoqueens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2018-02-19-11-04-19-2280-01.gif?w=300" alt="" width="343" height="191" /></a></p>
<p>Okoye was the greatest warrior in Wakanda, T&#8217;Challa&#8217;s right hand man (or should I say wo-man) and the leader of the Dora warriors. While juggling all of these hats, some kind of way she found the time to also be in love with W&#8217;kabi. W&#8217;kabi betrayed T&#8217;Challa and it all escalted to one big fight scene in which W&#8217;kabi summoned his huge Rhinos to help fight. (stay with me here&#8230;) W&#8217;Kabi charges up to Okoye on the Rhino and in mid-run the Rhino stops and licks her on the face (like a dog would). He then asks her, &#8220;Would you kill me, my love?&#8221; and her reply was, &#8220;For Wakanda, without question.&#8221; <a href="http://queentoqueens.com/2018/02/19/what-black-panther-taught-us-about-black-women/giphy-1-3/" rel="attachment wp-att-2028"><img class="wp-image-2028 aligncenter" src="https://queentoqueens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/giphy-11.gif" alt="" width="267" height="200" /></a></p>
<p>Even when asked to choose love or her country, she chose what mattered most to her and I don&#8217;t know if there were any other moments more pivotal than that scene.</p>
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<p><img class="wp-image-2019 aligncenter" src="https://queentoqueens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/img_4938.jpg" width="549" height="329" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#800000;">Shuri</span></strong></p>
<p>This may have been my favorite character throughout the movie. Shuri was T&#8217;Challa&#8217;s little sister and head of technology in Wakanda. Along with being a genius, she also had a sense of humor that would steal any scene. The lesson about Black women that lie within Shuri&#8217;s character is the endless possibilties for us within the STEM field. Yes, I know it was a movie. But, Shuri has shown many little Black girls that they too can have a lab and develop new technologies. She creates an image that has rarely been shown on screen for Black women and I believe that can be monumental for our little Black girls growing up. <em><span style="color:#800000;">Representation is so important. </span></em></p>
<hr />
<p>In the film, we see that Black women are intelligent, strong, compassionate, and trailblazing. But most importantly, we see that <strong>strong</strong> Black men aren&#8217;t intimidated by <strong>strong</strong> Black women and won&#8217;t allow them to dim their lights in order to make themselves feel superior.</p>
<p>#WakandaForever ð ð¾♀ï¸</p>
<p><a href="http://queentoqueens.com/2018/02/19/what-black-panther-taught-us-about-black-women/tumblr_oxx4fzay291qankmno2_500-1/" rel="attachment wp-att-2030"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2030 aligncenter" src="https://queentoqueens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/tumblr_oxx4fzay291qankmno2_500-1.gif?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="138" /></a>
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What ‘Black Panther’ taught us about Black Women
