I spent the majority of the weekend crying…off and on. The weight of 2020 finally caught up to me. It seems that things continue to pile on without relief. Especially for Black people. I woke up Saturday morning to the news of the passing of Chadwick Boseman, best-known for his role as Black Panther. The first Black superhero. This started the flood of tears. No, I did not know him. But it still broke me. It felt like another punch in the gut for Black people. Because, yet again, another Black man’s life was cut short.
I woke up Saturday morning to the news of the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the Black Panther. The first Black superhero. It felt like another punch in the gut for Black people. Click To TweetWe started the year with the devastating and tragic loss of Kobe Bryant (also known as Black Mamba) and his daughter Gigi. Then COVID-19 swept through, impacting Black and Brown people the most. Then George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain (happened last year but we just heard about it), Christian Cooper in Central Park, Rayshard Brooks, Jacob Blake…. And a President who continues to side with the oppressor over the oppressed. It is as if we’re in a perpetual state of mourning. Black people are emotionally drained…I am emotionally drained.
It may be hard for some to understand why the death of Chadwick Boseman has weighed so heavily on people who never met him. Boseman dedicated his career to giving artistic voice to Black stories. To making sure that our history was represented on the big screen. To allow little Black boys to see themselves as superheroes. As Ta-Nehisi Coates said, Boseman “communicated Black humanity through Black heroism.” At a time when there is a blatant disregard for our humanity on a daily basis, his work gave us hope. He reminded us that we could be and do anything. He knew how much Black representation matters. He made Blackness a global celebration.
At a time when there is a blatant disregard for our humanity on a daily basis, Chadwick Boseman's work gave us hope. He reminded us that we could be and do anything. He knew how much Black representation matters. He made Blackness… Click To TweetMary-Frances Winters newest book, Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body and Spirit, will be released in two weeks. Such a timely, and sure to be timeless, piece of work. The fatigue is so incredibly real. Winters coined the term Black fatigue as “repeated variations of stress that result in extreme exhaustion and cause mental, physical, and spiritual maladies that are passed down from generation to generation.” This year, especially, the fatigue has been front and center. We’ve experienced great loss—from Civil Rights icons John Lewis and C.T. Vivian to celebrities like Chadwick and Kobe to the loss of our very humanity. Black people are truly exhausted.
This year, especially, the fatigue has been front and center. We’ve experienced great loss—from Civil Rights icons John Lewis and C.T. Vivian to celebrities like Chadwick and Kobe to the loss of our very humanity. Black people are… Click To Tweet
