Stealing Sacred Things: A Proleptic Review of Black Panther

Join the Center for the Study of Evangelicalism on Thursday, December 12th, at 4:30 PM in University Center 307 for a lecture from S.N. Nyeck, Associate Prof. of Ethnic Studies at CU Boulder.

Abstract: Black Panther, a film directed by Ryan Coogler, has been hailed for its afro-futuristic expressions. It put a different kind of blackness on the big screen worldwide. The amazing technology of Wakanda is unmatched by any other nation. Technological success, however, hides an upending family drama which pits two heirs of the throne against each other. Kind T’Challa against Erik Killmonger. Until he arrived, the existence of Killmonger was a well-guarded secret only the ancestors knew. When Killmonger irrupts in Wakanda, it is to claim the throne and, in the process, destroy the cultural memory that nurtured the imaginary city: the heart-shaped herb that governs life and death flows in Wakanda. While Black Panther has received many reviews, the cataphatic role of religion in the film has not been noted. What does it mean to predicate one’s identity on the death of the sublime? The presentation proposes an alternative ethics affirms Blackness in ways that refashion the self without sacrificing the soul of the folks.