What's Really Going on with Black Masculinity?: Multiple Reflections on Black Panther

Abstract

Cianne was excited! She went with friends to the movie Black Panther^1,2 over the weekend and couldn’t stop thinking about it. She gushed about the movie’s portrayals of strong Black women to whoever listened. When she was younger, she wished for role models like Okoye and Shuri. Apparently, the excitement about the movie’s portrayals of Black characters was widespread, because there was a panel on campus later that week sponsored by the Africana Studies Department entitled: “What’s Really Going on with Black Panther and Black Masculinity?” During her Gender Communication class, the professor noted that he was giving extra points to students for attending and writing a short essay on their views of Black masculinity. This was great—she would get extra credit for thinking critically about something she was constantly talking about! She had seen the movie with her friend Frankie so she talked him into going with her to the panel so they could talk about the panelists’ ideas like they had the movie. When it was finally time for the panel, Cianne and Frankie walked into the auditorium, prepared to take notes, and waited for the event to start.