Erik
Killmonger in Black Panther is arguably *the* most nuanced, incandescent
antagonist/ super villain in the comic world– perhaps only rivalled by Heath
Ledger’s Joker. To a child of a (former) colonial state, I identified and
understood his struggle. I got Erik. I was rooting for him! But in the end, I
was totally disappointed by just how badly women fared at his hands.
If
we use Black Panther as an allegory of women’s role in Kenyan social justice
movements, the disposability of women in Erik’s quest (death of his female
partner, the choking of the heart shaped herb guardian), are disappointingly
familiar. Contrast this with T'Challa's Wakanda where women are
integral and vital. It was so refreshing to see women taking crucial and
non-supporting roles. In Wakanda- women were core to the struggle. Generals,
tech geniuses, spies, rulers. They served and they saved.
And
looking inwards at our non-fictional nation of Kenya, it should serve as a
cautionary tale to all the social justice movements that purport to be working
for the greater good of society. Where are the women in your ranks? How are
they being treated? Are we sanctioning- and casting out misogynists? Are we
actively working to counter anti-female rhetoric and misogyny in the rank and
file of the organisation?
If
not, the movement is at its heart an unjust movement. And unjust movements
bring forth unjust outcomes where they simply populate the same unjust
structures with new faces.
