Rest in Power, Chadwick Boseman

Chadwick Boseman has died. He cemented the role of T’Challa, King of Wakanda, in the 2018 film, Black Panther. In so doing, he was central to an effort that brought Black identity to central focus in the broader American context. He played a character that was the epitome of dignity and just leadership, even in its flaws. It was a watershed moment for this country. Wrapped in the trappings of comic book hero culture, Boseman delivered a performance that stood to challenge what race relations have been for so long.

And, Boseman did this while fighting colon cancer. From prior to filming, in 2016, to the wake of production and release, he was fighting for his life behind the scenes. He delivered. Man, did he ever. In the pantheon of Marvel dramatis personae, in the mesh of interconnected plot lines between what are largely otherwise popcorn flicks, Boseman and crew delivered work of import with Black Panther, a stand-out example of careful attention to Black identity, humanity, and dignity. Boseman was a hero in real life, by virtue of committing fully, and so well, to the struggle of his work, its purpose, even while his own life was approaching its end. He was valiant, and I think we who admire him so much, feel it before we even know that that is the correct word. He was valiant, courageous, a truly superlative example of the work of a life.

And, his death comes as a reminder, as varieties of representation specifically within the realms of superhero stories, expand to reach a broader audience, with more nuanced, historically sensitive, and caring representations. I think specifically of series like Luke Cage – largely panned, though I thought it excellent. And, of course, the astonishingly attentive Watchmen series, which so far surpasses its source material in intent and delivery, as to take an already-vaunted property into new realms of cultural significance.

And, what are these hero stories, in their core? They are *not* about being godlike, per se. In a way, Superman is the most American. He is an immigrant, a man apart, who so believes in virtues of justice and mercy that he sets out to save the society from which he is only partly included. So, too, as immigrants, have generations of exceptional, courageous human beings come these shores, bearing the gifts of their intellects and labor, to refresh our domestic spectrums with renewal in visions of justice and enterprise. It is the stuff of America, the outsider who comes to join, to integrate, to be equal and to succeed. Boseman exemplified all of these things in his life and acting.

And, yes, we have laid bare much of our dirty past in the last several decades. But, to this notion of a country built on the power of differences, their markets of ideas, working in exchange to reach refined solutions together – this is the stuff at the heart of our country. And, while there are faultiness and grievances, crimes and abuses many – almost beyond counting – in urgent need of address, these failings need not define us. How we respond to these wrongs defines us. Our commitment to the institutions and the processes of democratic justice, fairness, free and accurate communications, and caring for our most vulnerable – these should be the things that define us. And, I think they can again. I think, at the heart of T’Challa, where Boseman brought and offered the best moments of his life to place on display, he’d agree with me. Boseman delivered on that example, and added risk to his health to play what was, for us, the most important role of his life.

Chadwick Boseman goes out forever a hero, and with inestimable respect from this writer.

– D.W., 2020