What Chadwick Meant to Me
2020 is steadily beating us down.
On August 28, 2020 we lost another Black legend. Literally a Black King.
It took me some time to write this because, if you didn’t know, I am a big Marvel fan. I’ve seen all of the movies many many MANY times, I have shirts, keychains, I visit Reddit Marvel fan threads quite often…and this loss truly broke my heart.
I lost count of how many times I’ve seen Black Panther. At first I was keeping count because I was absolutely blown away by everything the movie represented. Chadwick has played many phenomenal roles in his lifetime but this movie was definitely my favorite. My daughter loves it as well. She just happened to be wearing her Wakanda Forever t-shirt the night I found out he passed. When I told her about what happened we cried together for two days.
When news broke that he passed due to colon cancer…that he had been battling in silence for the last FOUR YEARS…my admiration for him grew even more. Do you realize what that means? This man was filming, visiting children in the hospital, living out his dreams…knowing he had little time left.
If that isn’t the true definition of PUSH THROUGH, I don’t know what is.
He inspired so many Black children. He inspired so many Black people. Seeing ourselves on the screen as ROYALTY, instead of the “typical” roles…was life changing and necessary. Children needed to see that we ARE royalty. Knowing that he did so much to leave his talent behind with those of us still here is incredibly inspiring. That man was probably hurting and tired…but he still went to work. He still did what he loved and from the kind words of the people who actually knew him, he didn’t let his diagnosis change his good character in any way.
He was also young. Black men do not typically get tested for colon cancer until after 50. There was a lesson in that too. People should be encouraged to get screened for everything possible because we just do not get to know what hurdles we will have to face and catching illnesses early is always best. Now I could turn this conversation into one about healthcare in this country…but I digress.
Chadwick’s passing has made me realize that there are people going through so much, but yet they persevere. My problems don’t seem so bad when I think of what I’m actually blessed with, and that is a daily struggle y’all. But he made his life into something that will inspire us for years to come and for that, I am eternally grateful.
