SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to the Blurred Spectrum Podcast. This week we have a very uh it's a very um unexpected episode. Uh we uh definitely had other topics that we wanted to put out this week, but um of course something occurred that you know took everybody by surprise. You know, I'm sure you've all been hearing about it on other podcasts, on other shows, on the news, on social media, all that jazz. Not to make this somber in any way, shape, or form, but of course, we lost um one of our heroes, one of our representatives, one of the reasons why uh a lot of new individuals became blurred over the last couple of years, and it is uh our Black Panther Chadwick Bozeman, um recently uh passed uh about a week ago, I believe, at this time of the recording of this podcast. Um, and um we all have had um individual experiences uh either with his work, with his philanthropy, with his representation, and we just wanted to pretty much pay homage, pay uh respects in the best way that we can, which is talking about not only his work, his characters, um who he is, and of course, one of his most, you know, uh his one of his biggest um roles that he's ever played, which is of course the Black Panther. Uh so what we'll do, uh let me introduce our panelist for today, uh, starting with myself, Suchino Shogun. Uh today we have Ms. Skittles, we have the Black McCoy, we have Shamplou Bracelets, we have the Doctor, we have Kaze, and we have Sayone and Talonflame, also known as Sayone Been Flamed. For our viewers, I'm sure you know why that's their name. But for our listeners, we'll get it later. All right. So uh, like I said, we want to just, you know, give our personal or our you know outlook experience, uh, outlook-based experiences on Chabrick Bozeman and the Black Panther uh for this episode. We'll go into more detail, of course, of the Black Panther later on, based off comic books and gaming. But right now, let's you know focus on the man who who took on the mantle and you know put on the claws. Uh so who we'll start with is uh Kaze. Uh who's gonna give us a little bit of uh detailed explanation, if you will, on uh who the Black Panther is, so you can understand the importance of who Chadwick played. Kaze.

SPEAKER_09 2:57

Yeah, yeah. All right, made by uh Stan Lee and uh Jack Curtain and Rest in Power. Um uh he's made by them in uh 1966. He showed up in uh the uh Fantastic Four comic. And uh and uh and after meeting um the Fantastic Uh uh Four. Uh uh, you know, even though uh uh Wakanda up to that point had uh been uh you know just kind of worried about themselves. Uh Black Black Panther kind of uh learned that the the world's problems were were Wakanda's problems. And then uh in uh and then in 19 uh 68 he joined uh he joined the Avengers. And that's kind of where he kind of jumped onto the uh the main the you know the the main stage uh uh so to speak. Yeah, the characters uh his name is T'Cala, you know, the son of uh T'Chaka, who who's the king, the king of uh Wakanda. And uh uh it the story goes different a few a few different ways, but T'Chaka was uh was assassinated, and T'Challa had to uh take up take up the mantle of not only king, but Black Panther, because uh you know, because uh traditionally the Black Panther is uh not only the root the ruler but the high the high priest uh of Wakanda. And and to uh and to become Black Panther, he had to uh uh he had to uh eat the like purple heart herb, which uh, you know, it's uh which if you're not if you're not worthy, it might kill you. Uh but you know, to try to, you know, to try to uh he survived uh the herb, he survived the different uh rituals and whatnot, and he was uh you know, he was coronated uh king. And uh and and up until uh up until uh he met the Fantastic Four, he was mainly just you know defending defending uh Wakanda and uh settling settling like you know border border disputes and uh and making sure his uh kingdom stayed the uh neo-futuristic uh uh you know almost perfect place that that it was. Um he wears a uh uh Walcana gets a lot of its uh technology and wealth from a uh from a meteorite made of vibranium, and uh and vibranium uh uh absorbs um kinetic uh energy and train and turn and turns it into sound. And uh and they've and they've uh and they've uh studied a vibranium and uh and woven it into pretty like every pretty much every facet of life, and it's uh and it's what uh uh Tachada Suit is made out of. So he's like nigh invulnerable to physical damage, and it also charges up his uh you know sound waves, and uh he can also uh chart charge up his uh vibranium uh nails and daggers so he can uh uh you know have more uh destructive force when it when he's in melee combat. And uh also also even when he's not in the suit, the uh the heart shape herb gave him uh uh super superhuman like agility and strength and sentence and whatnot. So T'Challa is pretty ridiculous uh around the uh all around. Like when he's I think when T'Challa's written well, one of my favorite things uh about him is that he's he's he's afforded the the the narrative ridiculous ridiculousness that that Batman Batman is. It's kind of like stuff stuff comes up and and it's like no we have a plan for that. Already got that. And you know, and so and someone gets you know someone gets past one of the you know, one of the fast fances of his abilities, and he was like, Yeah, you were strong on me, but I was smarter than you, and I already thought about that. And it's like, oh, you outsmarted me, but I'm just gonna beat your ass now. And uh like one, like one time, uh one one time uh I think uh Mephisto Mephisto trapped him in the room, and Mefisto was like gonna try to like take his soul. And uh Mephisto's making fun of him because uh because he couldn't, because Mephisto couldn't uh couldn't be affected by uh like vibranium and he couldn't be punched and whatnot. He's a super strong like demon and whatnot. And but Mefisto didn't know that uh that uh Black Panther is also a spiritual hero. And he's blessed by Bass and Blas, and Bass pretty much uh at Astral projected uh Panther, so he can uh put hands on Mefisto, which is so you know he's just a very uh interesting, talented, multi- multifaceted uh uh hero.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yeah, one people something that you know a lot of people always, oh yeah, Batman versus Black Panther. I'm like, uh Black Panther specifically, even before he ran up against or you know was involved with the Fantastic Four or the Avengers, was fighting galactic beings, like you said, spiritual beings, fighting, you know, gods and spirits, all things outside the realm of, say, a Batman or uh an Iron Man, who are the other two, the other person that is, you know, consistently can uh contrasted against uh T'Challa. And, you know, in every single way, shape, or form, like you said, whether it's he is overpowering them or he's outsmarting them, or some type of blessing or uh ability easily enables him to overcome that challenge, he's been able to do so. Plus, I would say, unlike Batman, T'Challa is able to bring people together, not necessarily in a team environment, but in a we need to handle this right now, and then you can go about your way. One of the things I've always said about the Justice League is a lot of them were there unwillingly. They were there understanding the fact that working as a team could help the earth or benefit the earth. But at the end of the day, some of them would still, you know, go out and do whatever they wanted to do. And when they're called, some some don't answer, some answer in their free time when they feel like it. But whenever Black Panther got a team together, he would select the people who he knew would best, closer to almost a professor Xavier, selecting the X-Men or selecting the mutants who he knows would specifically be able to handle the task at hand and then say, hey, we did what we needed to do, so you can go about your business now. Thank you. Or Conda, thanks you, so on and so forth, blase, blase. So that's what they're I do appreciate about that.

SPEAKER_11 9:55

So random fun back since you brought it up and it like spurred the thought in my mind. Um just uh not naming any names, but a couple of our panelists have an issue with death battle, but they did have a death battle between uh T'Challa and Bruce, and T'Challa definitely won, which we all knew what happened.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

But um I don't know why you wasted your trigger for me for that one.

SPEAKER_09 10:35

Also, some of my favorite moments with T'Challa is the fact that uh people like forget he's a king.

SPEAKER_11 10:41

Yep. A very well-educated king. T''chala went to the most esteemed universities and graduated from. I think he went to MIT and went to c he went to a couple other ones, I think.

SPEAKER_09 10:52

Good.

SPEAKER_06 10:52

Yeah, yeah, he did. Yeah, he went to MIT.

SPEAKER_09 10:56

Good. It's real funny. Like, people would be like, oh man, you know, we just uh exhausted all our options and our backs against the wall. What are we gonna do into the tiles? We like, oh actually, my army's on the way. And I telescopes some uh some vibration missiles into the thing. Yeah, you know, we go ahead and this, yeah. I just you know, I just wanted to expend all the adventure resources.

SPEAKER_11 11:22

Right.

SPEAKER_09 11:22

Before I decide to tap into my own.

SPEAKER_11 11:25

I think the I think I think actually as you as you were talking, Kate, the most brilliant thing about um just Wakanda and their access to um the access to vibranium is that it's that media, right? It's been there for a while. Yeah. And they have been able to do so much with so little of it that they still have enough left to have resources that people are still trying to mine.

SPEAKER_07 11:50

Like still.

SPEAKER_11 11:51

Yeah. And I think I think that's the most one of the more beautiful aspects about what it means to not, damn it. Right. Well, for a Black Panther to exist, and not only Black Panther, but for Wakan Wakanda to exist, is that it is a society that's built upon a very l uh for all intents and purposes, an extremely limited resource on earth made it last, to our knowledge, reach any degree of they made it, they they've taken advantage of what it means to use things in temperance and moderation to the degree where like no one's no one's worried about it. Like their society has advanced eons beyond modern society as we know it, with so little, which I think speaks to speaks to Wakanda and Wakanda and in general, I would say Africa in a cultural sense, um, as far as what it means to be um like ideologically social, as well as what it means to have like ideologies of value and what it means to kind of advance one's own purpose in society and making good use of the materials that you have and not overextending oneself or overusing one's you know um resources, um, which I I guess in some way, shape, or form, it kind of alludes to a much more um environmentalist perspective as well. It's not overcompensating for one's ambitions by um by diminishing your resources in order to get there. But uh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 13:18

I love that you brought that up because it's a perfect example of this ability to have technological advancement and integrate into environmental respect, you know, and integrate the ability to be resourceful without you know destroying, you know, or you know, your land or whatnot. And so often, you know, in comics and media, those two things are at odds. Like, oh, if we have to want to be wealthy and we want to grow, like we have to do this, and then you know, we have to neglect the environment, and like those two are you know, it's kind of faction always fighting. But you know, Wakanda really did interpret those being super wealthy, you know, super technologically advanced, but still like having you know this lush, you know, and you know, about this value for the environment. You know, I actually love that they integrated those two things instead of putting them at odds with one another. Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

And then, you know, one of our uh other comic book experts, Talon, what would you say based off of what the doctor and the black McCoy Ankaze stated about the advances of Oconden um technology really makes the Black Panther, or how does it set the Black Panther apart from any other hero in any other comic book? Like other than, of course, the vibrant you know, claws. What else does it?

SPEAKER_05 14:38

Um his sister is more technology-based when it comes to the comic book too, but the truth is they're always like at least 10 years ahead. Like Iron Man quoted that all of the technology advances that Black Panther has is so far advanced compared to his armor. And he's ahead of every other technology military advancement in the world. Right. Yeah. Okay. But yeah, his his nine degrees does help too. He went to Oxford University?

SPEAKER_07 15:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 15:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 15:13

In the comic book. Yeah, I forgot how many different universities um T'Chaka sent him to, but he made sure that that that that man was well educated and that just goes to show to the extent where that just goes to show you what's more important.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

See, yeah, and I'm sure Sayonate can agree with this. You know, African parents talking about education is important. What T'Chaka sent his child to every university? Bruce just went to go learn all the martial arts. T'Challa didn't need that. He went to every university possible, learned everything. Like, come on now. But anyway, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_11 15:52

I mean, but Bruce was just inheriting like a company and a family fortune. T'Challa was inheriting an entire nation. I'm talking about before he was even. I know, but that's the point. Because T'Challa, for all intents and purposes, was being groomed to be a leader. And a leader needs to be well educated, a leader needs to be informed, a leader needs to be worldly, a leader needs to have the capacity to understand various educational systems and factions in the parts of the world that will allow them to not only rule their own nation, but distinguish themselves as a leader amongst other nations. So I think that's the Bruce didn't need to do all that. I agree with that. Bruce was just Bruce was Bruce was just traumatized and trying to make sure that he avenged his dead parents.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

I'm not making this a Bruce versus Tatala uh episode, but just about real quick about Bruce. Like specifically, Bruce was being groomed to be the head of his Wayne, not necessarily Wayne Technologies, but his father's company. Let's just call it what it was at the time, his father's company, right? Yeah. He was being groomed to do that before they passed. Absolutely. And, you know, he was allegedly taught all the things leading up into their parents' death that he would need to understand when he took over the company eventually. Bruce, when they passed, then decided to take up the mantle of vengeance, more or less, and because of quote unquote vigilante, versus going and learning and going to all these different academies, universities. He could have done the same thing that T'Challa did. Only difference is T'Chaka sent T'Challa. Right. He chose to go.

SPEAKER_11 17:36

I think that and I'm not disagreeing with you. I think that's the primary difference between them. Bruce was dealing with trauma at a very young age while T'Challa had the the well, forgive my usage of the word, but the privilege of guidance of a of a wiser leader.

SPEAKER_09 17:52

No doubt. He does have 14 messages and he had him when he was 18.

SPEAKER_11 17:59

Hello?

SPEAKER_09 18:03

But they doesn't that doesn't change. But I mean you're all talking about a nation versus a company. No, definitely. They they definitely had completely different uh purposes. Yeah, they had different purposes. I don't that's a that's information like outside of Wakanda.

SPEAKER_07 18:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 18:25

I don't I don't think T'Challa necessarily had to leave. I'm I'm pretty sure T'Challa was I'm pretty sure he sent T'Challa around the world to be well-rounded. I I'm pretty sure their education, just like all their other stuff, was already pretty far ahead of the rest of the world.

unknown 18:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 18:45

Yeah, I was like, oh, I was thinking of the same thing as you were talking. I was like, a Wakanda education seems like it wouldn't have yeah, it MIT could never compare. Like Oxford, however, none of them could ever compare to a Wacon education because there's like you said, like like Talon said, like they're they were so technologically advanced they eat they were even 10 years beyond the most technologically or militarily advanced thinker in the world at the time. Yeah, at least in the main to the mainstream knowledge being Tony Stark. And like even he couldn't hold a candle to them. And so blew you away.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

All right. So um moving from there, I did want to uh kind of shoot it over to Shampoo bracelets. Um, because like I said earlier, we want to definitely talk about not only the character, but also talk about the man who you know brought it to life in the MCU. So if you guys could give us kind of um uh an explanation, is the best way I can explain it uh or state it uh of how you feel Chadwick Bozeman was able to bring such a well-rounded, educated within a universe uh a country that was technologically advanced, armies, uh secure, you know, privatized environment. How was he able to bring that character to life without something falling between uh between the cracks, in your opinions?

SPEAKER_06 20:11

Um as a person was a very giving, uh very philanthropic person. He was also very big on raising the image of black men in Hollywood, which was a lot of reasons, like when he was with All My Children, that was some of the reason why that didn't work out too well, was because he wanted to raise that character that he played in that show to be more than just a hustler for just a hustler, yeah, that the normal astigmatism of the black character of oh, you still drugs, oh your daddy's not there.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

The mom was cracked out, right?

SPEAKER_11 20:52

I didn't even know time to go with my children.

SPEAKER_06 20:57

Like something like the wire or something like that.

SPEAKER_11 20:59

Yeah, so I'd I do it with more of a love of the rest of the family. So maybe his position on the stuff is that.

SPEAKER_06 21:11

So it was so that was that was where you really got to see him start to do that. Like I'm trying to show more of the black, the the successful black man, especially in this last, I want to say four years that he got diagnosed, which was crazy that he got diagnosed, and then you said he did black people, he did third good, he did 24.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

I think they said seven movies in the last four years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:41

But they were all they were all like successful black individuals. Yes, they had the issues, like James Brown had his issues, Jack Ralph had his issues. Like these weren't perfect men, but they were very powerful men in the black community. And that's what he was trying to push. He was trying to show that yes, you can be. A black man with with these, you know, say you you're a human, so you have your individual, you know, faults. But he was showing that, you know, what could happen when you could possibly think further than I said.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

Change the narrative of how we are portrayed on screen. Because I think after he left that role, Michael B. Jordan stepped into that role.

SPEAKER_07 22:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

So, you know, that's crazy to think that he stepped in and then years later they link up and play Black Panther together.

SPEAKER_07 22:30

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Um, I think Black Panther as a whole just represented Black excellence because it was all all of us came together for one common goal. Now, granted, they didn't go in there thinking that this was gonna be the top MCU movie. They did not, but it it did. They got there to grab that.

SPEAKER_07 22:47

Probably will always be.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

Right, right. So I mean, I think it's good for especially millennials in the art, the kids that we're bringing up to see that come portrayed on the screen. You need movies like that that portray black excellence and black people in a good light. Because sometimes, you know, we get lost in the song, so we're that extra character, and you're like, dang, I don't think we could have been more involved.

SPEAKER_06 23:10

So not just that, but also you gotta think this way too. Like most of us here are around the age of third, right? So none of us grew up with that black hero.

SPEAKER_07 23:22

Right.

SPEAKER_06 23:22

Like Shaf was the closest we had to that, you know. And that's like I was gonna put it out there.

SPEAKER_11 23:28

I'm gonna think it's real moderate now because I'm gonna be able to make it somebody, I'm gonna throw them out there.

SPEAKER_06 23:34

Okay, no, no, no, no, nobody blade and dole of it. Think about that. Shaq blade and dole. I was gonna say blade is really blade. Like these kids or the kids of this generation are lucky enough to have terrible.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Okay, I'm thinking that out there.

SPEAKER_06 23:55

I'll put the actor, I'll put the actor that played spawn out there. And putting spawn up. But uh it's it's a thing of they the kids of today's generation actually got to grow up and look forward to seeing Charlie Mosa, seeing that black man, seeing that hero that they can look up to and be like, it goes back to the idea of you all kings and queens type of thing. It's just they now have that in the flesh. And um, the fact that he was incredibly legal, even when he was outside of his role, the fact that he always carried that role with him. Every time you saw him, he was hitting the Wukanda X. Like it was just like he never, he never moved entire of what that meant. He understood the meaning of that.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

And I think he carried that well. He wasn't one of those actors that got you know big headed because his role blew up so so well. Like, I think he always stayed humble throughout any movie he went to, all the fans. Like, that's that's sometimes unheard of. You know, your movie blows up, you get big headed, you feel like you just shit, and can't nobody come up to you or anything else. So I think also he should be um like uh what's the word I'm looking for? Influence the other actors that may hit those big roles to always keep yourself humbled and grounded.

SPEAKER_06 25:15

Yeah, yeah, because even after he got diagnosed, he was still going to visit other like terminally ill children, he was still going to visit other cancer children, talking about you can make it and this that and that, even though he was going through his own trouble, right? Like he was in the same boat as these other people or patients, and it was like, nah, you'll make it out, we'll all make it out. Like he just kept that influence and inspiration going. And um, that was exactly what they needed to play Black Panther. I don't think they could have had a better person than that.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

And and to add on to that, like I'm I I have to say, like, since he I I can't really, I don't know if I can say, because you know, some some people say, oh no, it was this person, or this person. But since he played Black Panther, since he took on that role to be the first African-American superhero lead in a movie, he was able to superhero specifically, because you know, you know, they'll probably say other people did it first. But I'm just gonna say, since he did this in this particular time period, there have been other opportunities granted to other people. They may not be the lead just yet, but there have been other opportunities that are allowing individuals to, you know, step into the place of being a leader, step into the place of being the the headliner, like um, oh, what's her name? Uh uh the one who's the the new 007 uh who played uh Maria Rambu and um Captain Marvel. Uh it's like it could we have seen something like that? Because you know they were talking about for a while they were gonna have a black um uh uh 007 and uh you know may not work and all this other stuff, and they say it's gonna be a woman, it may not work. But to put a black woman into a position like that, and I've seen the trailer, all three trailers, she's a bad woman. And I and one of the and it's what's interesting, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to go off on a tangent, but one of the interesting parts that they said about 007 about the fact that, because you remember there was that speculation that was gonna be Idris Alba a couple years ago, and or Idris, sorry, and you know, a bunch of people were saying it's you know not possible for it to be Idris, is because one of the things that a spy is supposed to do is blend in. And when you go into countries like you know, Germany and you know, different parts of the UK and Australia, you know, it's kind of difficult for you know, Idris Alba, six something, 200 something pound black man.

SPEAKER_11 27:42

Which is weird because they think, you know, there are black people in other parts of the world.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

But this was their this was their you know their fight back in terms of oh, okay.

SPEAKER_11 27:55

Well, I will say every defense doesn't if every defense isn't a valid one. I'm not saying it is, but this is what everybody thinks. That wasn't for you, that was for listeners.

SPEAKER_12 28:07

You're completely right, you know.

SPEAKER_11 28:09

Just because you have a justification for something doesn't mean it's okay.

SPEAKER_12 28:12

Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

And that has been the black McCoy's teaching corner. Uh Samantha.

SPEAKER_12 28:16

To bring you back on what you know, Sushina Shogun was saying, you know, there are black people all over the world. And 007, the reason why he is or the character is so brilliant is because he can be incognito or she can be incognito. That is their trait. It has nothing to do with their skin, it has nothing to do with anything but their craft. And so that's just a bullshit explanation. Of course, it has nothing to do with you, what what they were trying to say. They just didn't want to cast someone else but white, to be truly honest. And but you know, the whole entire thing is that they are so good at being these spies that you can actually, it's funny. I went to the spy museum last year, and um I there was this lady who was like the lead of like defense or or lead of like um disguise. And she said, You can be anybody. You just have to know how to blend in because you're just that damn good. And this is an old ass woman, and she was just talking and she was just saying these things, and she also had a picture of somebody in a conference with the president and said, Oh, yeah, that's me. You're like, you had no idea, but she just blended in, completely changed her face, completely changed different things, even the way she dressed, how she talked, how she's good, and she blended in. And she's a woman. You see what I'm saying? You know, if she doesn't look like the rest of the people in there, you just wouldn't know who she was off the side of the street. Like that has nothing to do with race, it has nothing to do with sex, it's how good you are. And so 007, I was so excited when I heard that it was it could have been Idris Elba or somebody else besides the typical white male that we've been seeing for for generations. That's what I grew up with. And so I thought that Idris Elba would have added something new. I I don't like seeing black characters be tycasted. And that's why I love Chadwick Bozeman. He did not allow himself to be typecasted. He was in every single different type of role and played different personalities and embodied it and made such a wonderful positive experience for viewers. And he will always go down as one of the greatest black actors of our generation and possibly even, you know, reveling in the generation before, because you know, they our parents had the Denzels. We had Denzel growing up, he was our Denzel and more because even Denzel typecasted himself in a certain genre that he was in.

SPEAKER_07 30:43

But how do we have it?

SPEAKER_12 30:44

And that's from you know, I just wanted to uh piggyback on you of that. That's why for me he's he he was just such a brilliant actor because he gave a lot of black actors and actresses hope to break out of the mold and try different things and not to be afraid of it, no matter what people say. And so that's why to me, I just feel like this generation, generation after is just gonna see him to be so important.

SPEAKER_11 31:08

Yeah, and the beautiful part about all of that, the everything that you just said is that he even proclaimed that he did he his career, although magnificent, he he made sure that the roles that he took and the the the were for black people. Like he every role he made sure he was in, he did for the uplifting of the image and of the reputation and of the kind of cultural cohesion of black people. And he stayed with that just through through every single film that he did. And it's it's been astonishing to just kind of view every everything that he's done and watch how he has continued to advocate for his community through his craft. And I it and I can't confidently say that that's something that you see a lot of artists doing just in general, and being able to, you know, really not pigeonhole, I don't know why that word came to mind, but but focus themselves so adamantly on what the climate of their the climate they're living in is and what's necessary sociohistorically speaking for not only black people in in film and cinema, but just black people as a community, what we need to see, um what we deserve to see, and the the kind of iconography that we deserve in order to continue to exude the sense of pride and the sense of liberation that can not not explicitly take us to where we want to be, but continue to give us the strength and the hope that we need in order to understand that there is more to who we are than what we've been told or what we've been shown thus far. And he has always, throughout his roles, been that person that's like, this is who we can be, this is who we are now. We are never going to be the stereotypes that have been thrown on screen just for the sake of developing these kinds of more propagandistic, I think I made that word up just now, propagandistic ones. It's not a good, it's not a real good. But um, no, these kind of like propagandistic um like images and like the the imagery that comes along with it, what it means to be black and battling that really um like classist and racist ideology that comes into people's minds when they think about black people a lot of the time. And it's it's it's it's really astounding and it's it's inspiring to want to continue to do regardless of what you know avenue of work you're actually in, but continue to work for the benefit of your community because it's one of those things that like if if if if not now, then when, and if not me, then who? And I think that his career is representative of that. And he he had the integrity and the courage. And I say courage, but it absolutely takes courage to be a black person and let alone a black male or a black woman or a black binary person or a black trans person in any role, fighting for what it means to be respected and loved and cared for as the being that you are in the multiplicity of um like in the multiplicity of your identity and still be seen as human and not be seen as like a fetish or not be seen as like a freak, a freak or a thug or what have you. Um and it it takes a lot of strength to go through all it takes a lot of strength to go through all of that because I can only imagine, like I don't know a whole lot about Shadowick's career as far as like the nuances and stuff, because I mean who who does? I mean, outside of people who are actually there, but like what it took for him to get into those roles or to to turn down certain roles that he was actually probably about to be given, and him to say, no, I don't want this, you know, because this isn't what's going to benefit me. It's not what's gonna benefit my community, it's not gonna, it's not something that I can be proud of when all of this is said and done. And I can only imagine what was going through his mind during those times, things that he might have done or sacrificed for the sake of himself and for the sake of his community, and it just to imagine what that might look like is in and of itself admirable because uh I I don't know of a lot of um performers or a lot of artists who would make those same leaps or risk or take those same risks just to make sure that the person that they are and the people that they represent, whether they want to take up that particular mantle or not, um is something worth doing.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Yeah. Definitely I'm sorry, real quick. Uh the uh female 007, her name is Lashana Lynch. I wanted to make sure I said that put it out in the airwaves. I don't like not naming people. Um, and then I believe Shampoo bracelets, you had a you were about to say something earlier.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Oh no, I was saying that um the black book coy kind of took some of the words right out of my mouth because I was like, not only did he embody, you know, different characters within our culture, but people also outside of our race viewed him as a human and not just a black man.

SPEAKER_07 36:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 36:25

And I think he has not just put that with the Black Panther role, but he has changed a lot of people's hearts and, like you said, views on how they see us, which in turn is now opening the doors, not just in um TV and movies, but in different areas, you know, businesses and things like that. So that's that was all I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_06 36:45

Yeah, a lot of people saw him also as like like even going back to St. David's point with the the guy getting typecast, even with him getting typecast, he was still seen as more of an inspirational figure. Like you would you could hear the jokes about like people would say, like somebody, some white inspirational figure and be like, oh, we can get Charlie Boseman to play. It's like it was kind of like the fact that you would even think that to do something like that, that's where he had gotten in his career. And that was um that was very like astonishing just to watch. That you know, off of what he had just done in the the last four years. And it wasn't like he had a long career of doing this. It was literally four years he had set a mark that no nobody else had a nobody had really done. And then the person does is that washing who's not trying to do inspirational roles like that since he did Malcolm X. It was like, so after that, it was like after that, it was who else was gonna be this person for us. And Shalek Bosan was like, nah, I'm glad to do that. He cared nothing for the ridicule that came with it, he cared nothing for the for the judgment that came with it. He was like, I just want to do my people correct. And that was something that was very commendable, and the honest rarely see it.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

Right. And then something that both you uh Champlu Braces and Say One had said, referring to Denzel Washington being, well, say Nel specifically said it, and you kind of mentioned it, Denzel Washington being the kind of the actor of the generation for the previous generation. We grew up with him, but our parents, our aunts, you know, oh my god, Denzel. That's you know what we heard back in the day. And, you know, I've heard this story many, many times, even while Chad was still here, about the fact that um it was Denzel who paid for him to go into school to you know start his teachings, his learning, his training to become the actor that he is or was today at this point. And you know, the university went to was Howard University, which our you know esteemed doctor, the doctor, uh, is also an alumni of the university. And um, you know, we just wanted to uh allow you the opportunity to kind of give us. Um, I know you've spoken to some of your colleagues, you've been on the campus since uh it occurred last week. Can you give us some insight into how uh Chavez alma mater, which I believe he also did the commencement speech a few years ago? Um could you give us uh 21?

SPEAKER_03 39:16

2018.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

2018, thank you. Can you give us some insight to kind of what's going on there?

SPEAKER_10 39:22

Oh, yeah, definitely. So I cannot stress enough how important he was to Howard's community. Like he embodied so much that Howard, you know, you know, has as part of its core mission with you know his black excellence, with him constantly uplifting black people, not only in the roles he took, but a lot of his like really active activism and creating these opportunities for other black actors. So of course, like when we heard about this, like I didn't think it was real, even in a lot of the Howard groups I was in, we weren't sure if this was real. Like we're like, no, this can't be you know happening. But I mean, it really was just devastating. And you know, I went down to the campus last week uh to his memorials in front of the fine arts building. Yeah, you know, um, I you know got to talk with some you know people there too about you know, we chatted about what was going on, or like how we were kind of processing everything, but I mean it really was like losing a family member, and yeah, you know, and of course, that's not unique to being at Howard, like for a lot of us who you know saw Black Panther as someone who just put us in the limelight in a way that really few actors in our lives have. Like a lot of us lost a member of our family, yeah, and that's just really what it felt like, you know. And it just made me, it just made me reflect a lot too on no damn, like him working all through this and like doing all these movies while he's sick. And then, you know, not to kind of focus too much on the circumstance of his death, but I remember like when he seeing he was losing weight, and you know, there were like jokes about it and memes, and I don't know, like a lot of people thought it was doing it for a role, and like he was suffering, like he was probably going through incredible pain during that time. So it just also made me think that we probably should give each other a little more grace when it comes to stuff like that as well. Um, especially with someone like him who really had done so much for us in a relatively short amount of time, you know, like was mentioned. Um yeah, I I mean I just can't stress enough how much of a hit that was. Like, and I mean, even now, like it still doesn't feel completely real to me. But you know, I think the legacy he left, I mean, he's just made such a positive impact for our culture, you know. Like he really has, like, you know, like was mentioned earlier, you know, how many of like we had blade and um what do you call it, like shaft to, you know, were I would say imperfect, you know, examples, but important ones. Exactly. But yeah, like a Black Panther, like I don't think we had anything quite like that, you know, and I think this really is amazing that, especially for like, you know, young black kids coming up now, like to have someone like a hero like that to look up to. And a hero who embodied so much of his character in his like life and his activism and his black pride, yeah, you know, and his uplifting. Like it's you know, it's it's Twitter's been rough. I hope it like that. It's been a good and that was just not uh that was tough.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

That was like a punch to the gut. Like what?

SPEAKER_10 42:42

It was, yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

That was one of those times you was hoping that this was a fake rumored death. You were like, it's a rumor, it's not true, right?

SPEAKER_01 42:51

I think what hurt, I mean, uh several things hurt, uh, but I was actually with uh Kaze uh when we found out. Uh we were watching, believe it or not, the news, and uh it was like it was breaking news on the news, and it was like, yes, actor Chadwick Boseman, just star of Black Panther, has passed away from you know colon cancer. And, you know, it was very, it was not that difficult for me to believe it because you know, I'll take away your media license if you put it on the 10 o'clock news. Um so you know, we kind of just took it and was like, wow, it just happened. And I was actually wearing this shirt, it's one of my favorite Black Panther shirts. Um, and Kaze was like, oh, this is just too much. I was like, what's too much? I mean, just finding out, and then you're wearing the shirt. I'm like, what shirt? I looked down, I nearly fell out. I was like, oh my God, this is too much. I'm wearing this shirt, it's just not cool. It's too much. Um, because it's it's I agreeing with you, uh Doctor. Um, it's all the stuff that he has done, all the stuff that he represents, out even outside of the character, specifically talking about Chadwick. Um, all the stuff he did to give back, how he encouraged so many different people. Like it's like he took that. I mean, I'm I'm sure several things have um instilled in him that ability to give back to people, not just you know what occurred with Denzel. But I'm using that as an example right now. I feel like he took that and he, you know, multiplied it multiple times by giving so many different students opportunities to go to colleges like Howard, to go to colleges uh all over the world, and you know, telling them, you know, the opportunity is there. All you have to do is take it, all you have to do is grasp it, you know, move forward. And not just students, but also uh as um Sayonet um and Shampoo Brace was talking about, you know, the different individuals uh uh who had cancer or have cancer and how he was encouraging them, you know, you can still do it, you can still fight, you can still make your way through it. It's just I don't have the words for it actually.

SPEAKER_02 44:56

Well, the crazy part is we were listening to something yesterday on YouTube. They were like talking about, you know, people keep talking about what's gonna happen with Black Panther next. Um, and the guy was pretty much saying that Chadwick Bozeman, at first they had given him the okay, you're gonna make it through. And then a week before his death, they he just took a turn for the left.

SPEAKER_07 45:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:18

So it's just like he had no intentions on, you know, just up and leaving.

SPEAKER_07 45:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Um so I mean, to think that you had to settle your mind within that last week, that's a lot.

SPEAKER_07 45:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:31

I mean, you're already going through all these different treatments and trying to get yourself back, but to find out that you have literally a week left to get your affairs and everything that you need to finish done, that's that's a lot on somebody.

SPEAKER_01 45:43

It is. It's um it's beyond me to, I mean, I've without going too far into detail about my personal life, but I've witnessed a situation very similar to that. And, you know, when you are in a state where you're not 100% in control of what's going on in your body, you know, you've gone through the treatments, you've gone through the processes, you can only do so much, and you know, you're pretty much told it's it's not gonna happen. You we think it's gonna happen, and then all of a sudden everything changes. It's a very difficult situation. And I agree, I believe um, I don't know if it was Champlain Braces or Seyonnais said it's like losing a family member. Man, I was it it's it it hit me almost as much as it hit me when I lost a family member to uh cancer as well. It's not something you want to sit and dwell on, but it's you have to understand what's about to come next. All a lot of things are going to change. And you know, I've seen agreeing with you, I've seen so many people talk about the fact that they're not sure what the MCU is gonna do. Disney's not actually worried. Marvel is not worried, Disney doesn't care. They don't.

SPEAKER_02 46:52

Disney pretty much said that they need time to heal just like their stars.

SPEAKER_01 46:56

Just like everybody else. But they didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 46:58

So for the rest of y'all who keep asking that question because y'all are insensitive. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_11 47:03

Disney's gonna do Disney's not worried about first of all, Disney doesn't get first of all, even if Disney was worried, they would have no reason to be worried. Disney has enough money and enough creative writing at their disposal to be able to handle the handle it whichever way it goes. Like there's enough comic canon, there's enough multiple universes, they've already introduced affinity stones and multiple realities and timelines and shit. Like they've done enough to where it really wouldn't matter what the fuck they did because they can explain it away regardless. So that conversation in and of itself is a moot one. And the fact that, and it's it's been irritating that people have been trying to center Chadwick's death around that conversation. Like, what's gonna happen to Black Panther? Black Panther is still gonna be Black Panther. There's more than one Black Panther, there's always been more than one Black Panther. Chadwick, Sasha has never has never in the history of Black Panther been the only Black Panther. Yep. There are Black Panthers that come before, and there's a Black Panther that comes after him. So, regardless of what happened to Chadwick, the role itself has never is not more important than the person. And I think my favorite thing about this is a weird sentence. My favorite thing about Chadwick's passing is that we didn't get the news from TNZ. The news came from his estate.

SPEAKER_01 48:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_11 48:17

First and foremost. Because Chadwick because Chadwick knew for a very long time what his condition was, and he kept it very private.

SPEAKER_01 48:26

And I'm almost that is a team that I want to understand. The fact that he's been working on seven movies, doing press junkets, going to all these different places all over the world, doing all these different things, and not now, not now one person spilled until the estate said he is gone.

SPEAKER_06 48:50

That's Marvel's Illuminati right there. This team is literally Marvel's Illuminati.

SPEAKER_11 49:01

I just want to slide in there real quick that um Hank McCoy was on the Illuminati, but but no, like that that has been my favorite thing about this entire situation that his estate were the first ones to release the news. And I think that it is so incredible that Chadwick knew this entire time what his condition was, but his team and his estate kept that shit unlocked so hard that he was able to continue working and doing what he wanted to do. Disney didn't know. Not even Disney knew from Disney. Listen, and nobody keeps it from Disney. Nobody, not even George Lucas, goddammit. But like kept that shit on lock so hard that by the time it happened, nobody knew. And I can only imagine what it would have been like if people knew about his condition. Like the things that he would not have been able to accomplish with his career and with the roles that he wanted to take if people knew about his health. Because it is this is a this is the this is the first thought that comes to my mind. I think the doctor, anyone else who's watched Doctor Who Remembers this particular scene. It was, I want to say, season either two or three, and it was with the prime minister at the time. She did something really fucked up, and the doctor's like, I can take your I can take down your entire career, like with a few words. And he just said, Doesn't she look tired? And then next thing you know, the bitch wasn't prime minister anymore. I can't remember her name, but I think the doctor was. He said he whispered to one person was, doesn't she look tired? And then next thing you know, she's on the news talking about her health, and she's not prime minister anymore by the next season. But it's and like, but that was my immediate reference, but it's like that same thing could have happened to Chadwick Bozeman. It's like, oh, you're not well, or you're not reliable as you know, someone to be employed for this movie, or we can't take you off of this role because you're helping me in a barrier. But the fact that he was able to have not only the capacity, but to have the support in his team and his estate to make sure that that stayed so confined that he could continue on with the mission, so to speak, was so beautiful and it's it's tragic but admirable. It's it's so many things because it's like he shouldn't have had to do that, but he did it. It's it's understandable why he might have done it. Like at this point, I'm speculating because I don't know what was going on in Chad with his head, of course. But like, it's just it's it's of course you would, but it's like it's it's so much to have to juggle, and it's understandable why one person would do that, especially when they have their heart and their career set on something that expands beyond themselves. And I think that speaks so much to the person that he was and how much he cared about his community and what he did for his community, because he didn't want anyone to worry about him, and it's like when the and and I think that's also the part that irritated the shit out of me when like people were clowning him when he like those pictures surfaced and he looked, you know, he looked a lot smaller and you know, skinnier and stuff. And and I'm not gonna lie, like I was worried. I was like, well, and I was also well, like, okay, well, maybe he's doing this for a role or something or other. You know, I I kind of reasoned it away in that way. People go through dramatic body changes for roles all the time. Even people, even people who have worked for Marvel have gone through really even um Chris Chris Pratt. Yeah, yeah, Chris Pratt. He went through, he like if you saw him on Park Parks and Rick, was it Parks and Rick? Parks and Rick before he became a Star Lord, yeah, that was an intense transformation that he had to go to. And actors do shit like that all the time. So now he's getting quite a bit of pounds. Well, he he doesn't have to be Star Lord right now. But that but that just that just goes on to the point, like it would make sense that Chadwick looks different from time to time because you know, roles acquire different looks. Even 50 Cent when he tried to act that one time, um But I forgot what movie it was, but you know, he he looked very malnutrition because he was playing someone who's in a hospital, but like so it only made sense to to me that okay, well, you know, actors do shit like that sometimes, you know, they have to lift a certain weight for certain roles, um, even if it's just for a little while for a part of filming. Um, but like the fact that it it was real and people were still clowning like shit, and I'm just like, and it was in and it was retrospective. It was one of those hindsight things for me. It was just like, so now that y'all know what was really going on, uh I part of me was like, I hope y'all feel shitty because now you it's it's like you don't know what people are having to deal with on certain levels.

SPEAKER_01 54:01

People's personal business, like you don't you don't know people's personal lives. Like, even to think about it, the the amount of the amount of like gumption that he had to build up, knowing what was going on at the time, because the it wasn't just pictures at his surface, he was doing a press junket for one of the movies that he was uh starring in, or I think it was for five bloods, if I'm I think it was for that, and he was having an interview. He didn't have to do it, he could have just let it have the other actors do it. He took it upon himself to take a moment and have that conversation via Zoom to let the person know, oh yeah, we're doing this, we're doing that. And I'm like, how how how are you going okay? I'm not jumping into that, so it made no sense.

SPEAKER_05 54:50

Um I think we need more black superheroes, period. Yeah, at the end of the day. Like we have Blue Marvel. I don't know if anyone else like uh knows about Blue Marvel. He has degrees and he surfaced when black people didn't have rights, right? So that'd be another interesting movie. But Hollywood needs to broaden black actors when it comes to superheroes, period. We shouldn't have to wait years to get one.

SPEAKER_12 55:19

Or generation, you know, we shouldn't have to have we shouldn't be children to have Denzel be a pinnacle actor to now be in their 30, you know, and now have chat with Bozem Bozeman to pass away. And now wonder what the fuck are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? Yeah, like it shouldn't be that conversation, you know.

SPEAKER_11 55:40

And it's not like we don't have a list. We have a list of its own.

SPEAKER_12 55:45

See, but that's why I love um deny. That's why I love Lapida, because um, you know, and this is kind of getting a little bit off topic, but still within Black excellence and you know what Chadwick Bozeman represents, Lapida broke the mold out of seven years of slave. I would say or five years of 12 years of slavery, 12 years of slave. I couldn't remember the years, but 12 years of slave because black people, we were only good to be a slave to get an award. And for me, I was so tired of it. That was what we were good for.

SPEAKER_07 56:22

We were good for a slave of whole.

SPEAKER_12 56:27

That is what we that was what a house servant. Yeah, we or or a robber or a drug dealer or breaking out of jail or being a thug. You see what I'm saying? Like that was what we couldn't we'd win awards for. Yeah, that was what we that was our worst.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

You're right.

SPEAKER_12 56:46

So much more than that. You see what I'm saying? It's different from when people have to do that to get out of a certain environment to do better. You see what I'm saying? But it's like Hollywood said, no, that's what we that's what we are, and that's what we can get roles for. Like Peter broke out of that shit. He was like, no, I'm gonna be do more and be more than that. And that is what really for me started to change the climate of Black excellence because I didn't want to see this woman kind of hop back into that mindset of, okay, I have to kind of settle to get an award. I can be more, I can do more. And then here comes um Tyler Bozeman, and then you have uh the women who did the um who played the brilliant um astrophysicist for, I forgot um the lady that was in Oh, um with Taraji Janae and yes.

SPEAKER_11 57:42

Hitting figures. Yes, hidden figures, yes. That was an amazing movie. Yes.

SPEAKER_12 57:47

I wish I had more of this as a child, you know, and I wish we all had more of this as children. And that's why I love this generation now because our children or our future children are gonna see all of these wonderful diversities that we didn't get a chance to. We have to have some picking just to see it. And now our children are gonna be like, oh shoot, we have varieties now. We've got a whole buffet of culture, and it's only gonna get better. You know, we don't have to just see lack of melanin. We see different types of melanin now.

SPEAKER_01 58:20

And it's not a spectrum.

SPEAKER_12 58:26

You know, but you know, I I I just I just wanted to put that in there. It's just so important, you know, in what Talon was saying, um seeing more black characters, seeing more black characters that are not in a certain box and breaking out of it. And it's just so it's so important to not just them, you know, to break out of for them, but for everyone. And it's not just for black people, it's basically the entire world. Because you see one minority or one ethnicity breaking the mold, you're gonna start seeing a lot more other ethnicities breaking the mold. You're seeing more Asian characters, seeing more Native American characters, seeing more Latinx characters, and it's going to be a norm than just, oh wow, that one person just made it so much worse. We're gonna start seeing them be just as a general thing on screen as white people. And that is something that I wish and I hope that is gonna be the norm in the future so that our children and even ourselves and even you know the generation before us can be like, damn, we really have come a long way to see this as a norm.

SPEAKER_01 59:41

So and one thing that we um uh I wanted to make sure we gave Miss Skittles an opportunity to talk about her.

unknown 59:50

I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_01 59:52

No, no, no, you're fine, you're sorry. I didn't think specifically, I wanted to make sure we gave Miss Skittles the opportunity to talk about her uh experiences or rather her connection to both uh Tala Tatala, the Black Panther, as well as uh Chadwick Bozeman. Especially because you know she plays Storm, y'all.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:15

I I did. Um so um I actually when it comes when it comes to Black Panther, um the MCU creating uh um a whole movie based around this man was an opportunity for me to learn about a character that I uh knew very little about. Um and seeing the movie, um like you all said, is is it's all black, like all black excellence, like the the down to the the clothing and and the the um actors and actresses and just it I mean there was what two there was two white people in that whole entire movie.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:03

And there should have been it was not it was nothing short of spectacular. And um to this day, um like I I mean when I saw it in the theater, I saw I dressed up in Storm. I went seen in the theater, I saw it in the theater like three times. Yep when it came out on Netflix, I watched it for like every day. And even today, uh I I still watch it like twice a month. Um and every every single time I like at the end of the movie, I I cry not not you know of sadness, just of joy. Like I'm like I'm so joyful. I get such a joy out of watching it and seeing um seeing people who look like me um in this movie about a character that frankly I barely even knew about before um the MCU created this uh origin movie. So um I think Chadwick as an individual to eat to to take on this role and and just do it so well, um, you know, saw bits and pieces and Avengers, but to see him in this in this movie with alongside all of these other people just you know, just bringing this character to life on on the screen like that, it was just amazing. Um and that's just because I I don't have a whole lot of words to describe, you know, how overwhelming I I felt watching him on on the screen. And um just the importance of of you know little black boys and girls seeing this, um seeing this and wanting to be that character, and not even just black boys and girls, uh white white boys and girls as well, or you know, all people, all races were like, oh my god, I want to, you know, I want to be Black Panther. And and who would have thought, like, who would have thought, you know, you see somebody be like, I want to be the king of Wakanda? Like so um I think Chad Chadwick as an individual, uh just an amazing human being. Um his um I I almost had the I I had the opportunity to meet him, but I did not. Um it was in Buffalo. Um I went to a David Chappelle stand-up and um he was in Buffalo shooting um Marshall. And my boyfriend at the time was like, I don't think that's him because because he was now this was during the time, now looking back, knowing what we know now, this is during the time he was he was sick. So he was he was very frail, very small when I saw him. And I said, No, I swear to God, that's Chad. I swear that's him. And um we didn't go over there uh because he was sitting like across, and I was I was like, I swear he looked just like Chad with Bozeman. Like, that's my black bather. Like I just I just knew it was him, and he was like, No, I don't think it's him, I don't think it's him.

SPEAKER_11 1:04:29

And sure enough, my melanin senses are trembling.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:32

I need to on the news the next day, they was talking about how he was in town shooting Marshall, and and I was like, Oh my god, I could have just, I mean, I should have just gone over there like, hey, you kind of look like you know, and and um, you know, knowing knowing what I know now, I just wish I had a uh because um, you know, just he just overall an amazing human being. Um there are multiple times that I can account for where I'm just like looking at him being just being him, like just you know, just doing doing doing chat with and I'm like, look at this this man just out here living his life and just being just being the best person. You don't see that often, especially not with celebrities. Yeah. Um, you know, uh a lot of times I feel like you know, it's about clout, it's about you know what what you look like to the public. And I when when I seen Chadwick doing the things that he was doing, it I didn't get that from him at all. I I got genuine, uh uh a genuine feeling that, you know, this this was from the heart. Like the things that he did um were f were from the heart. So um his uh when he spoke at Howard University, I don't know. I don't know if everyone here has uh heard the commencement, but if you have not, you need to watch it. Um there multiple, multiple, I mean the whole speech was freaking ridiculous, but there were multiple uh parts of the speech that that really stood out to me as far as as far as what he felt like he needed to be doing as a human being. And it speaks to a lot of what you guys talked about here today, like um just just just his need to uplift his people. And there's uh there's a part of the speech that I want to talk or uh say real quick. So uh so um he says, when I dare to challenge the system that would relegate us to victims and stereotypes with no clear historical backgrounds, no hope or talents. When I question that method of betrayal, a different path opened up for me, a path to my destiny. And I feel like this this is him in 2018 speaking, speaking to you know, now like that was his purpose. He felt like that was his purpose as an actor, as a human being, um just to uplift, uplift everyone, but in particular us, uh people who look like him. And and that that says a lot to me about you as a person. Um like you don't have to do this. Nobody nobody said, hey, this is your job. Um so you know, the fact that that that is what he felt like his purpose was in this world, um it just means a lot to me. The all the roles that he did take on of black men, like like you said, who who had their own issues, but they were strong black men in our community that we should look up to and um who broke barriers, um just like Chad Chadwick himself did break barriers. So um this hit me uh uh hard, definitely. Um when when I saw the the the announcement, I just even though even though I knew it was from his estate, even though you know I'm just I'm I was just like this this cannot be real, like this cannot be real. Um and I'm sure we've all you know know somebody or may have experienced um a loss from cancer, so fuck that shit. But it happens and um I'm just I'm just so proud of this man as an individual. Um I'm so proud of everything he's done for our community. Um and I I don't think I don't think we'll ever we'll ever be able to repay him unless we we listen to these words that he you know spoke to us. We model ourselves after him. Um we teach our children to be that type of individual uh moving forward. And and that'll that'll be how we thank him for what he's done in you know in his short time here with us.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:47

So I I 100% definitely agree. I mean, with all that he's done and one thing that you definitely, the one thing that you said, which was all the things that he was doing, all how he was living his life, how he was, you know, going about interacting with people, how he wasn't stuck up doing things for clout, being a quote unquote celebrity. He was being himself. And you know, some people will say it was because he got the diagnosis, but keep in mind he was doing this far before that, back when he was on All My Children, back when he was on all those different shows, and before he had gotten all these bigger roles, he was already being himself, he was already giving back to people. All he did was continue doing it on a larger scale. Now you see what he was doing because people are not following him, I aka T M Z and the rest of them. So he was already being Chadwick Bozeman before it was popular to be Chadwick Bozeman. So, you know, uh, and I mentioned before earlier, I I'm not really feeling a lot of these different posts that are talking about, you know, almost trying to shame. I think I was talking to Kaze about it uh uh yesterday, that you know, a lot of these posts and you know commercials are trying to shame individuals into you know pulling up the mantle and being a part of their organizations or donating to their organizations. Like Chadwick would do it, or look what Chadwick did in the last four years. I'm like, I'm gonna need you to not do that at all. Like, let that let let that man rest in power, please. I'ma need you not to try to monetize it at all. Like, like, unless you not even unless you is a state, don't do it.

SPEAKER_11 1:11:27

But I I and I and I and I I completely agree with you, but I wanna I just the the unfortunate part of what it means to live in a capitalistic society is that regardless of whether you think it ought to be monetized or not, um anything is up for grabs when it comes to monetization. Even symbols of peace, symbols of since even symbols of anti-capitalism are up for grabs when it comes to that.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:51

I agree with what you're saying, but his estate owns his likeness. They put his likeness and his words in their commercial. So unless they gave them permission, fine, let the estate monetize on that lawsuit. So what I will do now, just so we can make sure we wrap up the episode, I want to give it over to Seone and Talon. Well, specifically Seyone, because I know she had a unique view on the inspiration, um, I'll use uh that Chadwick as Black Panther gave to a specific uh group of individuals, not just black people in general, but a specific group. Um and it kind of unified them with another group. So I'll let her explain a little bit more.

SPEAKER_12 1:12:36

Black Panther was such an icon to me because of my heritage. Um, I am Nigerian and Jamaican, and I was brought up more with my Jamaican family, but I always clung to my Nigerian heritage as well. And even to this date, you know, when I get married, I want a non-traditional, I'd say, Christian wedding with the white dress. I want my Nigerian dress. I want to feel my roots when I get married. But that was how important he was to me and how important the Black Panther franchise was to me, especially growing up. You know, no one no one knew I was Nigerian. You know, I get it to this day. You know, they just think, you know, I'm just black American. Well, fine, I have no problem with that. But it you I've seen be a little bit of difference between being African and being American. Sometimes growing up, there was a little bit of a not division, but kind of an indifference, so to speak. And Black Panther just made that indifference just so cohesive and together. Something that I wasn't used to seeing as a kid, even though we're all black, but there was some some reason a little bit of an indifference from our roots. And, you know, we're black, we're all from Africa, and that was not always taught to black people growing up. And so I've kind of saw the difference, you know, even with uh Michael B. Jordan's character, you know, and versus Tyler Bozeman's character. That is a real thing. And, you know, the indifference of African Americans and black atlets straight up Africans, you know, like that is the indifference that that culture in America. I don't know why it was taught to be so indifferent, but it was. It was taught that. And we're all black and we're all African, so to speak, until Black Panther made us all one. And that was just so important to me. I remember when I showed up at Black Panther, it was damn near one o'clock in the morning, cold of shit. And I wore my ghine, I wore my gold heels. I I feel like I was the damn princess of Wakanda up in this bitch. And I nobody could say shit to me. I'm like, eh, I could, I don't even know Yoruba. And bitch, I learned some Yoruba that day, and I didn't give a fuck. I was like, Follow me, I killed. I was up there, I was like, hey, you know, and that was just it was just so important. I was so proud. And then I saw all black people who weren't even Nigerian, who weren't even from, you know, Ghana, or they were everybody like my my friends that were just from like New York, you know, who didn't know, you know, per se their roots from Africa, they were up there getting encra fabric, you know, they were getting their kentei, they were just going out. And, you know, and then not only that, it also helped inspire people to look up their heritage. You know, I saw so many of my my friends, they're like, I want to know my ancestry, you know, because of this movie. It just pushed them to, I want to know my culture, I want to know my history. And it was just so important to see that that togetherness, that cohesion all across, you know, the black community, all across the world, you know, and it made being African mainstream. And that was something that I did not see growing up. You saw being, you know, being Caribbean was cool. You know, you had the reggae, but now you have the Afro beats. That's cool. And I'm like, damn, this is just I just love it. I live for it. And it's really because of Black Panther, to be truly honest. I mean, Africa has always been on the map, but not mainstream in America like it was because of that movie. And it's it's it's painful to know he's not here with us. But he brings me so much joy seeing what he has done for us and done for the world. And, you know, it's just I it's it's hard, you know, like Ms. Skittle said, it's just kind of hard to even put the words. Um, but he has done so much for us in so little time. And he's just made me even more proud to be black and more proud to be African. And I just, I just love him and I just love the entire franchise, just really living in that moment and just kind of pushing our black excellence and just letting us be proud of us being black, you know, without any doubt. And so that's just you know how I feel about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:58

I am. Thank you. Oh, did anybody else have something they wanted to add before we closed out?

SPEAKER_09 1:18:05

Uh actually a few more little factoids. Uh uh, I I forgot there was a there's there's a there's a portion early on in the Black Panther comic where um the Marvel editors wanted uh Stan Lee and to uh incorporate more white people into the comic. And so that's when Black Panther met the KKK. And he started beating their ass.

SPEAKER_07 1:18:30

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:31

Um white people, I give it to you.

SPEAKER_08 1:18:35

Which comic book is this, and we can find it.

SPEAKER_09 1:18:41

Um also also to uh kind of bounce off what um the the black McCoy said uh earlier is that uh Chadwick actually during the course of those four years, uh he turned down a slave drama. It was supposed to be him and Tessa Thompson.

SPEAKER_07 1:18:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:18:56

And he was like, nah, I got I got I got better things to do. Um and also he uh he has a his last movie is coming out this year's with my on Netflix called My Rain is Black Bottom. So uh yeah, let's uh tune in.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:15

Please, everyone. All right. So uh just to wrap up, I do have a quote from Chadwick uh that I wanted to give as a little bit of an inspiration. Uh it states, uh, when I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me. So based off of everything we've said, you know, it's making he he pretty much made sure, even if it wasn't the last actual project that he wanted to do, he made sure that every single thing that he did, he did 1000%, and it was to uplift and raise up, again, as all of us have said, not just black little boys and girls, um, or non-bury, not non-binary black, uh, but also um or trans black, not only them, but everyone. Give everybody the ability to see characters, uh, uh see individuals from the past, uh, like like no other, like I don't think anybody can say that other than well, I'm not generalized things, but Jarro Boseman to me created T'Challa in such a new light, it allowed people to really understand who Black Panther is, what Wakanda is, and really give it its due. And when people have played previous Batman or Superman or whoever roles, it's a it's a person, oh, who could fit this role best? But it's almost like that role was laid on top of Chadwick Bozeman and it fits so perfectly because he brought T'Chala to the screen in such a light that it made me believe, like, oh, this they must have planned this when he was born, you know, a couple 40 years ago. Doing the comic, they was like, I have this lady marry this man, the child is gonna be T'Challa. That's how well he played the role, um, and how well he brought um Black Panther to life on the screen for me. So we'll go ahead and wrap up. Uh uh, do you know, do our social media handles, of course. If you have uh anything to add to this topic, uh feel free to reach out to us at Umbral Star Cade on Twitter, Instagram, uh, Facebook, uh, as well as Twitch, or you can uh send a message to our mailbag. Uh that is uh the blurred spectrum at umbralstarcade.com. Uh anyone else?

SPEAKER_12 1:21:44

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to go. Oh, okay. Sione cosplay on Facebook, Sione underscore cosplay on Instagram, Sione Cosplay on TikTok, but I I ain't on there, so don't even go on there.

SPEAKER_11 1:22:01

I mean, we've been saying for a couple weeks, ain't nobody gonna be on there soon.

SPEAKER_12 1:22:07

Yes, but yeah, something like that. But Sione Cosplay.

SPEAKER_11 1:22:10

You can find me on Facebook and Instagram, and you can hit me at the black McCoy on Instagram and uh Facebook.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:17

Um, Ms. Skittles underscore Cosplay on Facebook, Instagram, yeah, TikTok. That ain't nobody on.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:27

Same thing happened with Vine. Yeah, I thought it was a joke. Uh anybody else? Um oh, I have some final words. Wait, hold on. Kaze.

SPEAKER_09 1:22:36

Uh Kaze Shimmeryu at uh on youtube.com.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:39

And shampoo bracelets.

unknown 1:22:43

No?

SPEAKER_11 1:22:43

They say don't come look at stay over there, mind your business. We're gonna have, we're gonna have.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:55

Okay, uh uh Black McCoy. Oh, you bum bam. Oh, I was gonna yell that. You talking about quietly. Hi everyone, thank you for joining us this week. See you next week.