Black Panther: Did ‘Black Panther’ Emphasize How Important It Is To Heal Ancestral Trauma?

When ‘Black Panther’ came out earlier on in the year, I heard that it was a really good film. A few friends of mine said it was good and one of them said that they were willing to see it again if I wanted to go. 

I didn’t go to the cinema in the end and I ended up forgetting all about the film. For some reason, I started to think about the film the other day, and I soon decided that it would be a good idea to would watch it.

Two Parts

While I was watching it there were moments when I would detach from what was going on in front of me and wonder what the purpose of this film was. It was as if the intention of this film   was to try to create even more tension between people who have black and white skin, and in addition to this, I thought that it went into what can happen when ancestral trauma is not resolved.

When it comes to the former, the left, through their focus on identity politics, have been trying to divide black and white people for quite some time now. This ideology paints all white people as oppressors, and in this film white people are seen as a “colonizers”.

Divide and Rule

Through hearing something like this, along with the conditioning they have received by the mainstream media and the education system, someone can end up being even more convinced that all white people are evil. But, if every white person is seen as having ancestors who played a part in what took place in Africa all those years ago, this is not much of a surprise.

Yet, even if every white person had ancestors who were involved in what took place, would it really make sense to punish the people who have come after them, to try to make them feel guilty and to hate themselves for what took place all those years ago?

Black and White

The big question is: do two wrongs make a right? What this kind of propaganda also does is create the impression that white people are the only race on the planet that had ancestors who enslaved people from other races and that none of their ancestors were enslaved.

Another big question here is: who on this planet benefits when people from these two races end up fighting each other, as opposed to working together? Why would anyone want to demonize white people?

A Big Distraction

What is clear is that if someone has brought into what the system has told them, they are going to be too busy hating all white people or themselves (if they are white), to be able to ask these kinds of questions. As a result of this, the people who are working morning and night to divide people won’t be disrupted.

One has to wonder if the reason why the people behind the scenes are doing everything they can to demonise white people is because they are trying to assuage their own guilt and shame. This is then similar to how a person who is cheating can accuse their partner of cheating; the difference here is that it will relate to something that is far more severe.

An Ethnostate

But even though this film was very much on board with the identity politics of the left in this regard, it didn’t go as far as to promote multiculturalism and diversity. Wakanda, the country in the film, is inhabited by black people, and it doesn’t accept immigrants or refugees.

The countries main priority is to look after its citizens and not to try to save the rest of the world. This approach is radically different to what most countries in the west try to do – a number of these countries have leaders who are believe that their main responsibility is to solve the world’s problem.

The Real World

Countries like Hungry, for instance, who have not embraced multiculturalism to the degree that other countries have are often heavily criticised by the mainstream media. These countries are often seen as being xenophobic or racist.

So far, I haven’t heard anyone use these words to describe Wakanda. If this was a real country, it would be interesting to see how it would be described by the mainstream media, lecturers, and world leaders, for instance.

Another Part

In addition to these elements of the film, another thing that stood out was the parts of the film when the main character visited the afterlife. His father had passed on, but through being in this plane of existence he was still able to connect with this presence and to seek his counsel.

This also gave him the chance to understand why a fellow Wakandan would want to cause so much harm. After learning that this man’s father had been excluded, causing him (the son) to be forgotten about in the process, it becomes clear why he is so full of rage.

The Power of Acknowledgment
​
Hearing about this made me think about something called family constellations, as this healing modality looks into how challenges are passed from one generation to another. What this means is that each generation doesn’t start with a clean slate; they pick up what wasn’t resolved by the people who came before them.

So, if this man and his father had been treated differently, there would have been no reason for his son to behave in this manner. What he had gone through needed to be brought up to the surface and acknowledged.

Healing Trauma

What this emphasises is that it isn’t possible for someone to simply forget about what their ancestors went through and to move on – this won’t solve anything. This will be about as useful as telling someone who has lost a loved one to just ‘move on’ or to ‘get over it’.

Many, many years may have passed since one of their ancestors when through something that was extremely traumatic, but it can be as though it happened to them yesterday. This is why what has been passed down to them will need to be acknowledged and resolved, in order to allow them to embrace the present moment and to live their own life.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what colour someone’s skin is as there is a strong chance that some kind of trauma will have been passed down to them. If this is not dealt with and someone allows it to define their life, it can be normal for them to add even more drama to the world.

Finally, these are just my views and this means there are many other ways looking at this film. Overall I would say that it is a good film – the acting is good, as is the music – so I would recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it.

---

If you feel this has been of value, please leave a comment, like or get in touch. And feel free to share this article, as many others have.

• Join my Facebook Page.
• Follow me on Twitter.
• The books I have written.

Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk