NYAC S3 E13: Wakanda Party Is This? Issa Black Diaspora Party! (Part I)

Not Your African Cliché

Part I of the episode where we discuss the pop culture phenomenon that is Black Panther. We are about a month late to the party but we here! Suffice to say, spoilers ahead. If you still haven’t seen the movie, you’re on a long tin! Joined by Black and African arts curator extraordinaire, @ifeanyiawachie, we gush about the visuals, the cinematography, music, acting and general #BlackExcellence on display in the movie. We ask if the movie’s imagination of an African country untouched by colonization is what we envisioned, acknowledge the differences in peoples’ imaginings of a futuristic Africa, and question how technological advancement should manifest while retaining a cultural identity. We also explore the validity and limitations of T’Challa vs Killmonger as an allegory for the relationship between continental Africans and African Americans (and other black people in the diaspora). Ifeyinwa reminds us that while the movie is a celebration of Blackness, it still exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and thus is not free of its overarching creative influence, and Yeka O draws a parallel to Biafra and wonders what the country may have looked like had its secession attempt been successful. ------------------------ Resources • https://theintercept.com/2018/02/22/black-panther-brazil-protest/ • http://africasacountry.com/2018/02/africa-is-a-country-in-wakanda/ • https://www.gq.com/story/black-panther-and-the-search-for-home/amp?__twitter_impression=true • https://longreads.com/2018/02/22/how-black-panther-asks-us-to-examine-who-we-are-to-one-another/ • https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/on-killmonger-black-panther-s-american-villain • https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/black-panther-and-the-invention-of-africa • https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/02/black-panther-erik-killmonger/553805/?utm_source=atltw ----------------------------------- Episode was mixed by Ifeoluwa Olokode. Theme song is Ayo by Femi Leye