The grief a Black family feels when their queen or king dies is obviously unbearable. Wakanda Forever is going to shake the Black diaspora to its core.

We don’t do grief well. To feel the loss of someone, to feel the loss of something, in our present-day perception is the root of grief.

Grief is the selfish notion that one’s own yearning is the only thing that is occurring, and that spirit and your loved one’s journey is not at play.  As if to say, that the memory is less than that of the present. Memories are never gone. Though we may know this, the body is real, and the spirit is not. 

Maybe the African view on the sense of loss is dramatic, but Black Americans’ loss levels are over the top. Grief in this film is constant and yet transformative. We agreed that we don’t think Black men where ready for the turn of events Coogler chose to take, says the SDMNEWS editorial team. As an heir, I understood his direction says the publisher. The title Wakanda Forever, cannot be forever, if there is no succession. The title of this sequel is a learning curve for Black America. In Maya Angelou’s poem “I Rise”

“I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.” This speaks of tomorrow.

There is an ancestral continuum, that must be brought about. Forever is a chain of promises and behaviors that links one to history, the present, and tomorrow.  All three are the “Forever”. Each subsequent challenge is different. Each experience for the next generation is different and thus requires different assistance.

The requirements for the character “Shuri” the sister of King T’Challa and daughter of Queen Mother Ramonda, are challenged by both grief and glory.

Just like T’Challa, having dealt with the grief of his father, and the grief of his cousin Erik Killmonger, correcting the wrongs of his father, Shuri haunted by her cousin’s thirst for revenge, had to make different decisions.

It is clear that with the same challenges today, Black America faces grief, grudges, and succession. 

In a hyper-egocentric world, Black male power in this film is not extended. It is given to the female line. With the cognitive dissonance of Africa’s matrilineal continental heritage, Black America will have its moment of grief.

The silver screen has parted ways with the franchise’s patriarchal egocentric plot. Unfortunately, some Black men as a whole will not see the beauty in the storyline. They will see it as an end, not a new beginning.  

5 Keys to Succession

1. Elders:  Elders must know their purpose. Elders must know their job. Elders do not haze, insubordinate, initiate, or make one feel deserving. Their job is to coach and excavate one’s potential into useful skill sets. Their job is to see in them what they have yet to see in themselves.

2. Preparedness: Training is not just witnessing, it is practicing. While the leader is in power, they must allow the heir to the throne to be well-practiced with limited powers.

3. Confidence: While practicing is experiential, confidence is a brain and heart exercise. Meaning it is emotional fitness and mental conditioning that will carry the successor through challenges and ultimate victory.

4. Passion: Passion is not just an intense love for one’s own goals and purpose, it is the constant stretching of one’s ability to master one’s own weaknesses. It will be the job of the mentor or the predecessor to agitate this within the successor. 

5. Loyalty: While the Successor is protected, and drenched in love and care, the successor’s loyalty must be challenged. To ensure their loyalty and morality stay aligned. Their comforts must be earned, failures must have consequences and good performances must be handsomely rewarded.

As our review of WAKANDA FOREVER was fulfilling, it was a directive as well.

WAKANDA FOREVER 5 STARS