By Monae Everett
By Monae Everett
“I wasn’t trying to save the mantle with the Herb…I was trying to save my brother.”
Being thirteen and experiencing real, unbridled grief for the first time made me hate the phrase: “It was just God’s plan.” I couldn’t understand why this omnipotent being capable of such unconditional love could take away the person who I was closest with: my older brother, Reggie. I hadn’t done anything wrong, right? I said my nightly prayers, went to church and tried to live by the Ten Commandments. Perhaps I skipped out a few prayers during dinner or told a lie or two to keep me out of trouble but it possibly couldn’t add up to the punishment I believed God was inflicting upon me.
So, it festered a lack of belief in spirituality. I came to the conclusion that everything in which transpired in the world was just how it seemed. There were no divine interventions or miracles. Just pure luck or the power of the human brain to resolve an impossible situation. Years of this resentment and frustration built up into questioning His existence. Maybe life was everything we saw it to be. There was nothing supernatural and that humans created religion as a coping mechanism when things went wrong in the world. To me, it seemed probable. To Shuri, the newly inducted Black Panther, it was also the same.
It came as a surprise to me. How could a fictional movie about superheroes and people who could fly be the solution to a stagnant grief process?
Shuri (played by Letitia Wright) was introduced to the silver screen when esteemed director, Ryan Coogler, gave us Black Panther (2018). The witty, expressive princess was tied into the many strong Black women who filled the screen. As T’Challa’s (played by Chadwick Boseman) younger sister, she added the comedic charm and unspoken care that we see out of many younger sibling tropes. In the first film, she was beloved. An independent young woman in charge of the world’s most advanced science division. However, the lighthearted character that the audience had grown to love had a pivotal turning point both on and off screen.
In light of the death of Chadwick Boseman, the sequel to Black Panther had to be scrapped and changed. Not only did the character lose her brother but a film family lost its valued member. The sequel no longer had its Black Panther and Ryan Coogler and his crew were forced to make something special out of an impossible situation. The premise of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2023) touched on grief and the delicate ties it had with religion. Ryan Coogler made Shuri the exact character I needed to understand what I was feeling.
Starting at the beginning of the movie, the first line the audience hears is Shuri praying to the panther goddess, Bast, to aid her in saving her brother. She ends the prayer with a promise to never question the goddess’ existence again. Throughout the film, the audience is given bits of dialogue to reinforce Shuri’s reluctance to understand religion and spiritual aspects as she only knows what science and facts offers. In addition to these pieces of dialogue, grief is something Shuri struggles with throughout this whole movie. Her process of finding some ounce of peace is why she has made an everlasting impression on my journey through life.
Shuri has taught me that hate begets hate and anger is a mental poison that can lead you from the path you had once chosen. She’s taught me to be unapologetic in my intelligence. Black girls in society have constantly had to downplay their intelligence in fear of being socially isolated or even a target in their own community. Importantly, she’s taught me to let go, which is a stage not many people venture to on their grief journey. Despite being created for a world of superpowered humans and otherworldly problems, Shuri stands out as a beacon of hope and strength for someone who comes across her story. For someone like me
Monae Everett is a Cinema and Television Screenwriting Major attending California State University, Northridge.