Wakanda as a Political Statement PopCulture Impact First

Wakanda as a Political Statement

Pop-Culture Impact First Black Super Hero July 1966 Introduced in Fantastic Four Black Panther Party established October 1966 Both Stan Lee and Black Panthers claim it was a really weird coincidence and neither were influenced by the other Black Panther Movie was released in February 2018, and has become the most successful Marvel movie to date Top grossing Marvel film

History of Wakanda Thousands of years ago a large meteorite crashed into what is now modern day Wakanda Located somewhere near Ethiopia and Uganda, in a mountain valley with thick jungles surrounding them making it difficult to access The isolated country has 18 tribal groups that fought each other for quite a long time Religiously, they belong to a few different cults with the Panther and Gorilla Cults being the two largest While the Atlantic Slave trade hit East Africa in the mid 1700 s pretty hard, it was very difficult to reach Wakanda with 1700 s technology, and tribes surrounding the area did not know how to get there Around 1870, Vibranium is discovered near the impact crater and fighting broke out amongst the rival tribes for control of the new mineral

Colonialism 1890 s: Italy invaded Ethiopia and the British invaded Uganda British were spread thin and didn’t try to tread through the isolated area Italians lost to the Ethiopians, pushing them out of Africa entirely After seeing what the foreign powers could do, the Wakandan Tribes decided then to stop fighting and band together to ensure that they were not found by Europeans, but began to send out spies to see what was going on around the rest of Africa After witnessing the growth of technology and the iron fist of European Colonialism, Wakandans quickly began working on how to use Vibranium to their advantage in order to create new technology that would surpass the Europeans

The Black Panther The Heart Shaped Herb gives the Black Panther increased strength, speed and agility, as well as enhanced senses Seen as a gift from the Panther Goddess Bast The Black Panther has taken up the mantle of ruler of Wakanda, as well as defender of the country from prying eyes To become the Black Panther, the warrior must defeat the current Black Panther and six tribal champions from the other tribes Only those who are worthy can receive the effects of the Heart Shaped Herb

Vibranium is one of the rarest metals in the world, found only in Wakanda because of the meteor strike there. It has a unique ability to absorb all vibrations (sound, force, etc. ) making it good for stealth, defense, strength, and durability Its unique nature allowed Wakandans to quickly catch up to the Europeans During WWI and WWII while the rest of the world was developing new weapons, Wakanda surpassed them in other technologies T’Chaka, in the 1920 s and 30 s sold small amounts of Vibranium to very specific buyers which allowed him to send out his top scientists to further their education abroad and continue to serve as spies as well This Vibranium made it to the hands of American Scientists in WWII leading to the creation of Captain America’s Shield

Wakanda could not hide forever With Vibranium now out in the open, people began looking for it In the 1950 s Ulysses Klaw comes looking for Vibranium and he discovers Wakanda Many more people began to learn about Wakanda's existence T’Challa does his best to hide the countries wealth, technology, and power to protect his people from international war

Wakanda as a Political Statement Wakanda serves as a idealized African society had foreign European powers not gotten involved No Slave Trade, No Colonialism, and a Unified National and Religious Identity Vibranium represents the other rare earth metals and mineral resources that have been exploited by Europeans With uninterrupted access to those materials they designed things Europeans could never have dreamed of, developed on their own, industrialized in their own way, and become a super power While not free from all conflict, they serve as a beacon of what Africa could have been