Remembering Chadwick Boseman – Pebbles
Last night as I was in bed about to fall asleep, my phone started blowing up. The first message was from a good friend of mine who wrote “T’Challa, James Brown, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson. What a legacy. Chadwick Boseman RIP.” Excuse me what??? I was half asleep so my mind couldn’t process that there was an RIP after Chadwick Boseman’s name and I simply wrote back a confused “huh?”
I then did what most people do these days when they want to find out if something is true or not…they go on social media. It was then that my fear was confirmed. Chadwick Boseman was dead at the age of 43. I was numb, and the text messages kept coming, and I wanted them to stop, and most of all, I wanted this to be one of those internet rumors where someone’s name is trending but when you click on the hashtag the first comment is the Denzel Washington GIF with his hand across his chest and you immediately think, “thank God, I thought he died.” Well this time there was no GIF, and it was true. I turned off my phone, shut the light, and put my head on the pillow with tears in my eyes until I fell asleep.
I loved Chadwick Boseman. And not only that, I admired him, I respected him, and was inspired by him. If you listen to me on the radio of follow me on social media, you know that I’ve seen Black Panther dozens and dozens and dozens of times. I actually paid to see it in the theater most of those times. I loved experiencing that movie alone, with different friends and family members, and complete strangers, just to see the reactions of this Blacknificent movie. It was important.
But it wasn’t just Black Panther. Every role I saw him in, I was profoundly impressed by his talent. He played legendary Black men like Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Thurgood Marshall. Just about everything Chadwick Boseman was in, I saw. I even listened to an audiobook he narrated called Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon. Chadwick Boseman was an incredible actor who had nowhere to go but up in his career. But the things he did off the screen made his loss even more profound.
Chadwick Boseman was fiercely private and I didn’t know a whole lot about his private life, and that was ok. As a society, we seem to think that celebrities owe us something because they’re famous and in the public eye. He, and they, owe us nothing beyond what they choose to tell us, especially when it comes to their private lives. I knew he was engaged, but didn’t know that he and Taylor Simone Leward had married until the announcement of his death and it mentioned that he was surrounded by his wife and family when he died
I loved seeing the parts of his world that he did allow us to enter, and the moments where he shared parts of himself through interviews, photo shoots, speeches, and social media. It blows my mind to know that he was going through his own personal health battle while stepping into the role of Black Panther which would put him in the glaring spotlight and make him famous famous. But he did it, and so many of us are grateful.
As I’ve sat thinking and crying and remembering, I immediately thought of the off-screen ways that he showed what an incredible person he was. How he visited sick children in hospitals, how he spoke out about racial injustice, the importance of how black stories are told, his calling out the lack of women filmmakers, and so much more. He cared deeply about the world around him. I will also never forget his commencement speech at Howard University in 2018. If you haven’t seen it yet, take the time to watch it. It’s incredible. Here’s one of my favorite parts where he talks about purpose.
“Graduating class, hear me well on this day. This day, when you have reached the hilltop and you are deciding on next jobs, next steps, careers, further education, you would rather find purpose than a job or career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to fulfill. Whatever you choose for a career path, remember, the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.”
I think about this often when I feel lost or wonder which path I should take. What’s my purpose, and how will I fulfill that purpose?
It’s strange to think about the impact someone you’ve never met has had on you, but Chadwick Boseman has been one of those people for me. I wish I could have told him how happy Black Panther made me, or how much that Howard University speech inspired me, or how I appreciated the way he used his platform with purpose. I hope that before he died he truly knew how much he meant to so many people and how much he was loved. This one hurts and will for a long time. Chadwick Boseman was a superhero on the screen, and for so many, off the screen as well. I pray for his wife and the rest of his family as they grieve this immeasurable loss. As much as we loved him, they loved him more.
Rest in power and peace my King. Wakanda Forever!
