Being Frank
By Frank James
Special to the Milwaukee Times
The African American community recently received a jolt of energy via the movie, Black Panther. The response to the movie was simply astounding. Box office returns were overwhelming. Many African Americans donned African garb to view the movie. The movie gave African Americans a concept of how black people could thrive on their own without European influence. The question is: “Could the 2018 African American survive on their own?”
A community has to have a common goal/mindset that will lead the whole to success. The African American community has no unified goal, much less mindset, that will lead them anywhere. The average African American only thinks about one of the Big Three. Sex, food and money consume the minds of many Americans. Sex is pushed into the minds of African Americans via music, television and sadly life. African Americans have grown a fondness for food that borders on morbid. The love of money has created a cesspool of misery in the African American community. Black Panther offered African Americans a view of what a united mindset could achieve.
African Americans grabbed the concept of an African country run by blacks and mentally feasted on it. The imagery Hollywood created was visually and mentally stimulating for all people. It is rare that a movie comes out where there are black men dominating white men. Albeit the main brunt of violence was black on black; in the end the black man came out on top. African Americans need to see a black man come out on top and not by portraying a criminal image.
Black Panther showed how black people who are not victims of exploitation from other races could live. African Americans have been exploited to the point where they have mentally bonded with the people oppressing them. The sickening love exhibited by African Americans for the society that has raped and pillaged them is pathetic. I am not saying African Americans should stop everything and go on a rampage, far from it. What is being said is that African Americans need to use the concept from Black Panther to revisit their view of society. African Americans have to understand that the USA was created by and for white people, not to be given to former chattel.
There were other powerful concepts showcased in Black Panther. The image of T’Challa being king of a modern country is powerful in itself. The concept of a modern black country with advanced technology is breathtaking. When I saw the film I smiled thinking this was what Africa could have been without contact with Europeans or Arabs. How would black people have lived if the savages from two different races had not come pushing religion and slavery? Black Panther gave the world a glimpse.
Many people are talking about the possibility of a highly advanced Black civilization on the planet. This would be a great revelation for the world. Would a new civilization be a boon or bust for the 2018 version of African Americans? Who knows? The one thing African Americans should understand is that people only offer help to those who begin to help themselves. Would advanced weaponry liberate a slave who enjoys his bondage?
African Americans enjoy the visual nectar Black Panther has given you. Maybe if African Americans start thinking and making some positive progress, an advanced black civilization will reveal itself and offer aid. Who knows?
Frank James IV © 2018
beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or NCON Communication, its staff or management. “Being Frank” is a bi-weekly column exclusive to the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper.