On #BlackPanther’s Legacy, And Victor Oladipo’s Missed $25 Billion Dunk

My dude. You had ONE JOB.

This entire column was conceived from the idea that the week that Black Panther opened was the same week that Barack and Michelle Obama were memorialized in official American governmental portraiture forever. It made me start to wonder if we were replacing a heroic man of flesh and bone who served our country and enlightened our world for eight years with a comic book character who occupied our lives for 120 minutes. The idea that we might be claiming a false idol frightened me, mainly because I knew of no better options currently able to successfully agitate for my every-day African-American freedoms.

By the time you read this, Disney/Marvel’s brilliant film adaptation of the Black Panther comic will have likely earned $1 billion at the box office in just under two weeks. Buoyed by a blend of Black America’s current socio-political “woe are us” status and tour de force performances of an African-American director and African-American thespians representing nearly a full century of Black excellence, it’s an astounding overall presentation. The film inspires a belief that its most…