Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
By Naomi K. Bonman
Talk about Black excellence! This year’s Black History Month has been lit and will definitely go down in history thanks to the premiere of Marvel’s Black Panther. Black Panther brought in $426 million at the worldwide box office after a slow rollout overseas and a record-shattering domestic bow over the holiday weekend.
If you have not seen it yet, please go out and see it. Our people (African-Americans/Blacks) showed up and showed out and surely dressed for the occasion in African print attire. This was a pivotal moment in history with this film displaying positive messages and allowing our youth to finally see superheroes on the big screen that look like them.
Not only did the Black Panther have a majority Black cast, but it was written and directed by Ryan Coogler and it was the first film filmed at the new stages of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Once again, Black Excellence was displayed all throughout this film.
“The first day that I walked on set a lot of the crew were people of color,” Michael B. Jordan explained when asked what it was like working on the set of the movie. “The set was beautiful and I felt very proud.”
Danai Gurira added, “You felt the power of this nation.”
Speaking of beautiful sets, the cast and crew all favored the warrior falls scenes as there most memorable and favorite set design.
“The warrior falls scenes were festive,” Chad Boseman stated.
In addition to the well-designed sets and realistic effects and scenes, this film also dealt with modern day issues. These issues were brought to light in various scenes and atmospheres, from the more serious to the comedic scenes.
Black Panther is a movie where you can take the whole family to. It also showcased unity of all people, but especially among Blacks.
“We were all jamming while they were trying to figure out things,” Lupita Nyong’o explains while illustrating a moment on set when the whole cast were in sync with one another. “I looked around and I realized this is Pan Africa. We have Black people from all over the Globe. It was Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana, Tobago, South Carolina, Los Angeles, Canada, the U.K., Senegal. Nigeria…We were just everywhere and we all came together to make this film happen. This is a film that is stretching across the Globe and bringing us all together.”
Author: Naomi K. Bonman
Naomi K. Bonman is a Digital Content Curator, Journalist, Marketing Manager, and Editor. She is the editor of the westside Story Newspaper. She is also the Founder and CEO of Awakened Lounge (www.theawakenedlounge.com)
