Teachers are using ‘Black Panther’ to discuss African colonialism and American racism

Tess Raser’s students have been studying colonialism in Africa for a month now. Next week — as part of the lesson plan — she intends to take her sixth graders to see Marvel’s Black Panther. For Raser, who teaches at an elementary school in Chicago’s South Side, Black Panther invites her students to meditate on Africa and its diaspora through the imaginary country of Wakanda. She is using the film to explore the legacy of colonialism in Africa and, then, racism in the United States.

Raser’s curriculum is as ambitious as the movie she draws inspiration from. In broad-strokes, Black Panther, a comic book turned blockbuster, follows superhero King T’Challa as he struggles to support the highly-advanced African nation, Wakanda. More deeply, Black Panther reflects on pan-Africanism, racial politics, and imperialism. The conflict between King T’Challa and his cousin Erik Killmonger — as the Atlantic’s Vann R. Newkirk II writes — underscores “the nature of power and the rightness of its use… that have dominated black thought in the United States.”

For educators, Black Panther marks an opportunity to unpack these heavy themes with young people while also celebrating Black beauty more broadly under a racist, “America first” presidency. It’s tricky, but the moviemakes it easier and more accessible, multiple educators told ThinkProgress.

The film is purposefully timely — as it’s released in February, a month dedicated to understanding Black history. Moreover, the release coincides with an especially tumultuous social and political period, and gives teachers an opportunity to incorporate potentially controversial issues in lessons, which — as educator Clint Smith explains — is no easy feat. ...