Home, Belonging, and Africanity in the Film Black Panther

Abstract

Abstract This essay uses the film Black Panther to explore notions of home, identity, and belonging as these relate to race and being African. Black Panther added a more positive representation of Black identity and culture which is generally lacking in popular culture. Building on this achievement, the essay engages with the tensions between racial and national identities for the African diaspora, as Africanity and notions of belonging are disrupted by migration. While race is the identity of primary importance for Black Americans due to its role in marking difference, subordination, and oppression, for Wakandans in Black Panther national identity is more significant and a source of pride. When considered in relation to the diaspora, history, and cultural connectedness, ideas about Africanity need to hold real forms of oppression alongside change and difference, acknowledging that certain bodies have been repeatedly oppressed, without assuming that local histories are universal.