The death of Chadwick Boseman was a tragedy to many. Buena’s Black Student Union  honored his legacy by hosting a showing of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” for students, teachers, and their families November 11, 2022 at the Century RiverPark 16 in a private screening exclusive to Buena.

The BSU’s intent was to bring together the Buena community in order to celebrate the representation that the Black Panther film series has brought to the black community.

“It’s kind of like an empowering moment [to say], ‘Let’s get our community together to watch a film that is mainly made of black people,” Shanice Ware,  senior and president of the BSU, said.

In preparation for the new film, the first Black Panther movie was shown Oct. 14, 2022 in the Buena cafeteria, BSU leaders reflected back on the impact of the film.

“I felt that it was a key movie for our club to focus on. It gives that power to the black community,” BSU club adviser Marcia Amegadzie said. “It says ‘Hey, we’re here, we’re worthy. We can do all of these things.’”

While other representation of the black community does exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the representation does not equate to the amount of screen time Black Panther has gotten.

“We have someone that younger people of color can look up to. There’s [many characters in the Marvel movies] like Nick Fury, but I feel like you don’t necessarily see him as much as you do Black Panther.”

Chadwick Boseman, the actor who played King T’Challa/Black Panther, had unexpectedly died Aug. 28, 2020 due to colon cancer. “Wakanda Forever” acts as a sort of tribute to the actor.

“He was just such an outstanding actor, and he will be missed dearly,” Ware said. “Not only in Black Panther was he such a great actor, but in so many other movies too.”

In an email sent by Amegadzie, students were asked to wear all white to the showing of “Wakanda Forever” to honor Boseman’s passing. This request was made around a trend that began on social media based on real life African culture.

“In African culture, it’s a tradition not to wear black but to wear white instead,” Amegadzie said. “It’s to honor our ancestors and the purity of life.”

While serving as an homage to the late actor, “Wakanda Forever” also took on the great task of deciding which character, or even actor, would take the mantle of the Black Panther. As revealed in the second trailer that was released, it was shown that T’Challa’s sister, Shuri, would take the helm.

“[Shuri] is around the majority of our ages, and she’s so smart and so intelligent,” Ware said. “It’s really empowering for not only me, but many other black women.”

Although there had been complications about who will be the superhero, the power of the Black Panther is ultimately here to stay.

“It’s not like a chapter has ended but like a new one has begun.”