Black Panther is NOT an African story!!
In the 1930s, some francophone Africans in the diaspora led by Leopold Senghor of Senegal and others, started the negritude movement. It was a response to the superiority complex and implicit racism often shown by the Europeans who sought to liberate Africans from their inferior primitive cultures to the standard of French civilisation
Therefore, these Africans came up with the concept and philosophy of negritude, with the objective of emphasizing that blacks had a history and a worthy culture, which was capable of standing alongside the cultures of other countries as equals.
They also strove to correct the idea that Africans were merely superstitious barbarians and savages, and to reawaken the world to the African pride, uniqueness, and achievements and show that African civilizations were not inferior to those of other races.
Also important was the acceptance of and pride in being black and the celebration of African history, culture, and beliefs. According to Aimé Césaire, another negritude champion, western imperialism was responsible for the inferiority complex of blacks; and the acceptance and celebration of blackness was the way to decolonize the African mind.
In 1962, an unimpressed Wole Soyinka was speaking in a conference in Kampala, Uganda; and he criticized the negritude movement with the famous saying that ‘A TIGER DOES NOT PROCLAIM HIS TIGRITUDE; HE POUNCES”. In 1964, in Berlin, he further explained that "a tiger does not stand in the forest and say: I am a tiger. When you pass where the tiger has walked before, you see the skeleton of the duiker (antelope); you know that some tigritude has been emanated here".
In other words, tigritude was Soyinka's substitute for negritude. Rather than being overly excited about tales, songs, and themes of the greatness of African culture, history and traditions, he felt it would be much better to make the case through Africa’s concrete achievements in our contemporary world.
Some, of course, ...perhaps many, thought that this effort of African literati spending time promoting the pride of blackness was important. They enjoyed it and felt it was to be pursued, especially because it was a time that several African countries were coming out of colonialism. They felt the critic missed the whole point.
But I agree with Professor Soyinka on this one. His point was that action speaks louder than voice. And my perspective is that reality speaks better than fantasy. Black panther is a fantastic movie, but it does not speak to the future Africa I want to see. We should focus on 'actioning out' and not play acting. Let the African be motivated by real or near real stories, ideal but possible stories, stories with content over form, stories that inspire scholarship and innovation. A movie like the Queen of Katwe is one example: a girl rising out of near nothing through sheer skill, intelligence, a great mother and a selfless teacher, to the limelight. Dr. Ameyoh Adadevoh's 93 days is another such movie. Hidden Figures is another, but this time, the storyline should project into a Martin Luther King Jr kind of struggle against injustice.
We could have movies showing a realistic and modern government interphasing powerfully with other world governments in the United Nations, senators giving pertinent and mind blowing speeches, three young students developing an effective drug or a new kind of automobile or computer, and securing a patent that solves local and global health or social or transportation problems, a movie with a realistic arc that shows the presidents of (former) world powers coming to Aso Rock, and lining up to shake the hands of our female president.
Not people drinking serum from glowing flowers and flying about in suits. In a strictly x-men sense, that is awesome; but not in the real sense of what develops societies and civilisations: nor is there any sense in indigenes dwelling in huts, walking on narrow streets, with primitive pens for livestock, when there is so much technological advancement to build better houses and structures in the same society; still living on rocks and hiding in caves, and fighting both with firepowered ships and with spears. C'mon!
As a movie of fantasy that is great, but a non-african will be entertained and amused by that movie, but not challenged to reckon with 'Africa'. Let the 'oppressor' have something serious to think about, let him be moved to think of collaboration not as a favour but as an imminent need for his own survival. Let him see that 'Africa' is aware of the fact that time changes yesterday and that 'Africa' is working towards that day, as more of a reality to be reckoned with than a fantasy to be entertained by
"Le tigre ne proclame pas sa tigritude. Il bondit sur sa proie et la dévore"; meaning, "A tiger does not proclaim its tigritude. It pounces on its prey and devours it". Africa is more than black, she is more than a panther, and she is even more than a tiger. She is a great mother elephant, a lion of loins, and much more. Black Panther makes my list of fantastic special effects movies; but there are millions of uniquely African stories and plots, both real and fictional, that will inspire the average watcher and make him or her weep and laugh at the same time, regardless of race.
The Black Panther story so far, does not make that list.