Chiamaka Okonkwo: “I told my brother this was the first time I’ve cried over a celebrity’s death. I always found it strange that people could feel so much pain over losing someone they’d never even met, but now I understand. I understand more than ever before that one’s influence can transcend the barriers of space and time and touch the hearts of people from any corner of the world; perhaps it’s that very quality, that overwhelming positive influence, that makes Chadwick Boseman’s death so hard to accept. In light of the murders of black people happening right now, his legacy must be considered in what he meant for the black community. He led a movie with a nearly all-black cast that broke box office records showing the world that, indeed, black main characters could carry a hit film. The beauty of this, however, was particularly in the portrayal of blackness. It showed Africa not as the wild jungle that Disney had given us before but as a booming, futuristic tech metro. He gave us black kingship and royalty, black intellect and advancement, black love and compassion, and, most of all, a black hero. If for nothing else, the legacy of Chadwick Boseman is the upliftment of black people everywhere through the powerful arm of the media. In the words of President Obama, ‘what a use of his years.’”
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