If you’re wanting to understand why Chadwick’s death hurts so much, here’s a little insight into my grief:

I really struggle to love my hair. Like major issues with liking how I look because of my struggle with my hair. 1/9

I have known my whole life that it doesn’t fit the standard. And the standard, well the standard is white so I’m never gonna meet that.

My hair is thick and very Black. And I did not grow up seeing a lot of positive representation of my hair. 2/9

The pretty girls always had long, straight hair. Or they had “beach waves”. I internalized that I could never be a “pretty girl” because my hair wasn’t “pretty”

I can’t just put my hair up in a messy bun. My hair shrinks. My hair doesn’t just fall in luscious locks. 3/9

BUT then Black Panther is released. In that movie, we saw Nakia with her natural afro. We saw Okoye and the Dora Milaje with their heads shaved. We saw Shuri with her braids. We saw the Queen Mother with locs.

That whole movie had women with hair like mine. 4/9

Remember the scene in the underground casino where Okoye wears a wig of straight hair to blend in and she thinks it’s utter ridiculous she has to do that? Revolutionary.

As Black women, we constantly have to make choices like that. And we’ve learned to be empowered in that. 5/9

But still, it shows that we can’t just be ourselves as we’re made.

That’s just one aspect of how Black Panther saw us, saw me, and celebrated us, celebrated me. 6/9

This is a struggle to this day. The last time I looked in a mirror and disliked my hair was 5 mins ago.

Imagine if I had had Black Panther as a little girl. Imagine if I heard Okoye love her hairstyle. If I had seen Nakia kick butt in her natural hair. 7/9

This story may seem unrelated to Chadwick’s death, but it’s not and here’s why: Chadwick played characters that showed Black folks as we are. Resilient, brave, talented, courageous, intelligent. And in doing so, showed all of us who we can be. 8/9

Black Panther is one of my favourite movies of all time. And Chadwick was, and is, the Black Panther. Without him, that film is not what we have loved.

So Chadwick may be gone, but in our hearts, “The Black Panther lives.” 9/9