Rest in power: Remembering Chadwick Boseman
Courtesy of @chadwickboseman
The death of actor Chadwick Boseman shocked the world over the weekend, with fans everywhere feeling the weight of the loss of one of the most influential on-screen figures of our time.
The “Black Panther” star died on Friday, Aug. 28, at 43 years old, after fighting colon cancer for four years.
“He died in his home, with his wife and family by his side,” Boseman’s family confirmed on Twitter and Instagram.
Boseman starred as a number of noteworthy Black historical figures throughout his acting career. He played the first Black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson in “42,” soul singer James Brown in “Get On Up” and the first Black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall.”
A graduate of Howard University with Bachelor of Fine Arts in Directing, he attended the Oxford Mid-Summer Program at the British American Drama Academy as the recipient of a scholarship funded by Denzel Washington.
In arguably his most momentous role as the King T’Challa in “Black Panther,” Boseman brought to life the first Black superhero movie in the Marvel Universe, breaking the record for “biggest solo superhero launch of all time.” Despite being diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer in 2016, Boseman continued shooting and working on the project until the film’s release in 2018. He was then part of the ensemble cast of the “Avengers” film series until its conclusion in 2019.
Boseman will be remembered for bringing Black superheroes to theaters. His role in the Marvel Universe represents a strong sense of Black pride and excellence. “Black Panther” combats stereotypes of African inferiority and gives Black women credit for their strengths by portraying them as lead warriors and scientists – a narrative desperately needed both in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in Hollywood overall.
Boseman was an inspiration to many children on and off camera. His “Black Panther” performance was the first time Black children had a superhero that they could relate to and identify with. He gave Black girls and boys a hero that they could look up to.
Boseman kept his Stage III diagnosis and subsequent Stage IV diagnosis under wraps up until the end, refusing to let numerous surgeries and chemotherapy limit his work in “Da 5 Bloods,” “Marshall,” “August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and many other productions. While Boseman fought against cancer behind closed doors, that didn’t stop the actor from bringing gifts and inspiration to children at St. Jude’s Hospital in 2018.
People began to worry about Boseman’s health after he posted an Instagram Live video on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day, where he appeared to have lost a substantial amount of weight. Despite the speculation, his fans and the general public would not learn of his cancer diagnosis until after his death.
In the days after the announcement, fans and actors have taken to social media to express their sadness for the fallen King.
Former President Barack Obama shared a tweet as he reflected on Boseman’s legacy: “To be young, gifted and Black; to use that power to give them heroes to look up to; to do it while in pain ... ”
The world now has to continue without Boseman, but his impact will persist long into the future. As Boseman’s character T’Challa said in “Captain America: Civil War,” “In my culture, death is not the end. It’s more of a stepping off point.”
