6

WHO IS THE BLACK PANTHER?

THE SELF AS EMBODIED OTHERS

J. Scott Jordan & Daniel Jun Kim

“How many could we have helped, how many could we have saved, if we chose not to be hidden, not to be set apart? Many times because we did nothing, men, women and children died, and we did this because it was best for our people and Wakanda. That is a king’s morality.”

—T’Chaka1

“Moral development could be thought of as progressively broadening one’s concept of a person.”

—social psychologist Stefano Passini²

Who are you?”³ asks the wide-eyed youth, clearly awestruck by the sudden appearance of what looks to be a spaceship in his inner-city neighborhood. The king of Wakanda smiles as if to say, “The answer, young friend, is the story of my life, and of all lives ever lived.”

From the birthplace of the species to the backstreets of New York to incursion points in the multiverse, the tale of the Black Panther exemplifies the perpetual struggle to live as if we were all one single tribe, in a world dominated by stories that seem to tell us we are not. But why is it so hard to be one tribe? Why do we cling to cultural narratives of division and exclusion? The answer lies in the borders between self and other we develop during our lives, and the ways in which cultures influence our decisions about whom we let in, and whom we keep out.4

GROUPS, BORDERS, AND WORLDVIEWS

“We recount as the blowing branches recount the wind.

We recount as the stones recount the sea that batters them to sand.”

—Shuri⁵

To Western ears, these words sound like poetry. To Shuri, they reveal the Wakandan worldview that each of us is a living embodiment of the larger world in which we live. Our heart, lungs, muscles, and bones, for example, are embodiments of the constraints we have to address when we move through Earth’s gravitational field.⁶ As we strain, exert force, and work to maintain balance, the beating of our hearts, the billowing of our lungs, and the contractions of our muscles reflect (i.e., “recount”) the larger context in which we strain, exert, and work. Thus, just like the blowing branch and the battered stone, we, ourselves, are recountings of our world. We are embodiments of context.⁷

Psychologists refer to cultures that are organized around this worldview as holistic. Within such societies, people believe that “the universe is a vast integrated unit rather than discrete mechanistic parts,”⁸ and they experience themselves, “as parts of various holistic entities, who adopt identities from the wholes they are part of, and strive to act in unison with other parts in the wholes.”9 Black Panther is an embodiment of Wakanda’s holistic culture. While visiting the souls of previous Black Panthers in Necropolis, the City of the Dead, he says, “I seek your counsel, honored fathers, warriors and priests. Black Panthers all.” One of the souls responds, “You can speak plainly, T’Challa, there is no need for such formality, or subtlety. After all, are we not now all one?”¹⁰

HOLISTIC VERSUS INDIVIDUALISTIC SELVES

“You must take us all!”

—T’Challa¹¹

While he himself is a holist, Black Panther has seen enough of the world to know that individualistic¹² cultures also exist, in which each of the people experience themselves as living as an internal, subjective self that is separate from and independent of external, objective reality, including other people.¹³ His awareness of this difference is expressed beautifully when he offers his soul to the demon Mephisto if he agrees to never bother another Wakandan. Mephisto accepts the offer and is surprised to find himself suddenly located in a jungle-like spiritual realm, surrounded by the souls of many prowling black jungle cats. T’Challa informs him they are in this realm because “my spirit has been forever joined to that of the panther god!” Mephisto mocks the idea of a panther god, calling it “tribal superstitious claptrap,” and further claims, “There is no ‘panther god.’ I’d have known it.”¹⁴

This exchange represents the different forms of thought that characterize holistic and individualistic cultures. Mephisto, as a single, individualistic spirit, reflects the Western tendency to observe and think about reality analytically in terms of individual objects, the properties they “possess,” and the categories they belong to. These individual objects are thought of as being connected in terms of logic and universal laws that guide their behavior.15 As a result, members of individualistic cultures tend to experience people as independent agents who are connected to each other through their own subjective powers of choice and free will, and “reason” is thought of as “an internally driven, cognitive process … in which meaning is made.”¹⁶ This analytic type of thought is reflected in Mephisto’s belief that his argument with T’Challa is between two individuals and their separate, subjective desires. His statement, “I’d have known it,” reveals his commitment to the idea that “reason” is a subjective, individual, cognitive process of making observations and combining them into theories about external reality.

Black Panther’s way of perceiving the world, on the other hand, is more holistic, “attending to the entire field and assigning causality to it.”¹⁷ Members of holistic cultures do not experience “objects” as being independent, and connected through logic and universal laws. Rather, objects are embedded in a larger cosmic order; they are subsets or “wholes” within the larger, cosmic whole; and they derive their “properties,” including their causal powers, from their existence in this larger, cosmic order. As an example, in ancient Greek culture, scholars relied more on analytic forms of thought, and explained a stone’s falling through the air as if the stone had the property of “gravity” within itself. In holistic Chinese culture, on the other hand, “gravity” was considered a property that emerged out of the stone’s inescapable relation to the larger context in which it was embedded.¹⁸

In holistic thinking, persons are experienced in terms of their connectivity and interrelatedness with both each other and the larger, cosmic order. In addition, “reason” is not so much a subjective, cognitive process, as it is an individual’s ability to “turn the soul in the proper direction to see the external order of the cosmos.”¹⁹ Within this way of thinking, meaning is found as one becomes increasingly aware of one’s connection to the cosmic order.20

T’Challa’s holistic thinking is evident when he transports Mephisto and himself to the cosmic realm of the panther god. When Mephisto denies the panther god’s existence, simply because he didn’t know about it, T’Challa says, “You did know it. You just dismissed it.”²¹ Black Panther’s holistic outlook, as well as his experiences with individualistic cultures, allows him to “see” the analytic thought structures at the root of Mephisto’s argument. By conceptualizing Black Panther as an independent “thing” that is connected to the world through his subjective desires and free will, Mephisto has missed the fact that Black Panther is connected to reality holistically. Aware of the differences in their thought processes, Black Panther declares, “My ancestors are the most noble souls that ever walked the earth, and my soul is forever entwined with theirs. My soul is yours now, which means, you must take us all!” Still not understanding Black Panther’s holistic message, Mephisto begins to consume the souls of the Panther spirits, squealing in delight over his apparent victory. Gorged, Mephisto stops to rest. T’Challa then reveals, “You’re satiated. They are not,” and the remaining Black Panther spirits consume the single, individualistic demon.²²

This delightfully wicked parable serves as a cautionary tale regarding the allure of individual freedom and the lack of constraint supposedly offered by individualistic cultures. Mephisto believes the defining features of an “individual” are independence and free will. This analytic perspective renders him unaware that the purity and nobility he “tastes” while consuming the souls of the Black Panthers derives from their holism—from their connectedness to each other and the larger, cosmic order of the panther god. In short, the individual soul tastes “better” because it lives with the awareness that it is connected to, and part of, everyone and everything.²³

HOLISM, RELIGION, CONTEMPT, AND COMPASSION

When T’Challa brings New York blues singer Monica Lynn to Wakanda and she saves a young boy from a charging rhino, the boy’s mother, Karota, refuses to thank her. As Monica and Black Panther walk away, Karota says to her husband, “It’s that out-worlder. That Moan-A-Ca! Look at them! Shameless, that’s what it is.”24 While one might claim that Wakanda’s holistic religion is responsible for Karota’s contempt for an out-group member—even one who saves her son—research indicates that those who attend religious rituals and use religion for nonreligious reasons, such as business networking or because a spouse attends, express more hostility toward out-group members than those who are devoted to, and practice, actual religious principles (e.g., “love thy neighbor”).²⁵ T’Challa is aware of this distinction. When Monica interrupts an important ritual because she believes he is being harmed, and she accuses the attendees of working with Killmonger, W’Kabi says to her, “That’s the final indignity, outlander! Your very presence profanes this ceremony!” As Monica and Black Panther walk away, he says to her, “Too many people warp the word heritage, Monica. They use it to mean superiority when it is only meant to give one identity!“²⁶ Because of his genuine devotion to the Panther religion, T’Challa is more likely to feel compassion for the suffering of out-group members.

RELATION-BASED VERSUS CATEGORY-BASED GROUPS

“Whose heroes?”

—The Thing27

While it might seem as if holistic cultures are more group-oriented than individualistic cultures, it turns out that both types foster high levels of collectivism, in which, “people are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups.”²⁸ What differs is how the collectivism is expressed. Members of individualistic cultures engage in group-based collectivism, which stresses, “obligations to a group as a whole, valuing obedience to group norms and authority, and subordinating individual interests to those of the collective.”²⁹ Members of holistic cultures maintain relational collectivism, which “emphasizes relationships, mutual cooperation, dependence, and concern for each other in a closely interconnected social network.”³⁰ Because of these differences, members of individualistic cultures are more sensitive to distinctions between in-groups and out-groups based on categorical group membership, while members of holistic cultures are more focused on personal relationships within the group, and working to create a more relationally based collective.³¹

The differences between these forms of collectivism are clearly expressed as Black Panther stands on a rooftop in New York City, attempting to calm a crowd that has gathered to get a glimpse of the king of Wakanda.

T’Challa: “What do you want? Why have you come?”

Crowd member: “To see if it was true. To see if you were really here.”

T’Challa: “I don’t understand, I have always been among you.”³²

Black Panther’s seeming confusion reveals his relational collectivism, in that he experiences the members of the predominantly African-American crowd relationally, as if they were part of him. In addition, his surprise that they don’t experience him the same way reveals his expectation that he and they should be working toward a more relational form of collectivism.

In response to Black Panther’s plea, a different member of the crowd explains the group’s concerns: “You were with them, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four. They don’t care nothin’ about us.” This person is experiencing Black Panther in terms of group-based collectivism; that is, in terms of a categorical, in-group/out-group distinction. As a result, seeing him “with” the Avengers is experienced as a violation of an in-group expectation. He is a member of their group, not the Avengers’ group. The crowd member puts a finer point on this idea when he says that the Avengers are “not our heroes” but are instead “their heroes.”33 The point is driven home even harder when the next frame depicts the Fantastic Four’s Ben Grimm (a.k.a. the Thing) watching the verbal exchange on television and failing to understand, as he wonders, “Whose heroes?”

What is brilliant about using the Thing in this scene is that he actually embodies the tension between group-based and relationally based collectivism. When interacting with the Fantastic Four, he is able to experience himself as part of a relationally based collective; that is, he is an essential component of the group, and he is their friend. Outside of the Fantastic Four, however, he often finds it difficult to identify with any category-based collectives because his physical attributes are so totally unique. During the Fantastic Four’s first visit to Wakanda, the Thing falls for a trap set by Black Panther and is briefly incapacitated. When he comes to, he says, “He said I’d be weak for five minutes, but it’s only been a couple’a minutes, and I feel like my ol’ beautiful self again!”³⁴ Referring to himself in terms of a dimension based on physical appearance (i.e., beauty) reveals how much his identity is based on in-group/out-group categories. And by doing so ironically, by claiming to be beautiful while he believes others think he is not, he reveals the level of loneliness his group-based form of collectivism brings to his life.

Given this distinction between group-based and relationally based collectivism, it seems that when T’Challa asks us to “look after one another, as if we were one single tribe,”35 he is actually pleading for us to work together toward creating a more relationally based collectivism, to experience ourselves as being part of each other and sharing a common fate. But how do we do this? How do we create a culture in which we experience each other in terms of relations, versus in-group/out-group categories? The answer seems to lie in the nature of rhythm—in the pulses that permeate the movements of our bodies, the meter of our songs, and the arcs of our stories.

MANAGING GROUP BORDERS

“Start at the beginning of the story, child.

For in the end, only the story matters.”

—the griot spirit³⁶

The griot spirit, caretaker of all Wakandan histories, says these words to Shuri as they walk through the Djalia—the plane of ancient memory, in one of many examples of Black Panther characters visiting otherworldly realms. As the griot informs Shuri of the power of stories, she is expressing the holistic view that as embodiments of context, each of our lives is a story that is a part of the larger tale of the cosmic order, including the otherworldly realms. The ebbs and flows of happiness and sorrow, strength and weakness, victory and defeat—all of these are lived embodiments of the patterns entailed in reality as a whole.37 Thus, the rhythms of these lived patterns are the rhythms of life. Given this notion of reality as nested rhythms, Wakandans use the rhythms of collective ritual to keep their individual stories connected to both each other and the larger cosmic order.

BECOMING ONE BY MOVING TOGETHER

“I, Zuri, son of Badu, give to you, Prince T’Challa, the Black Panther.”

—Zuri³⁸

T’Challa extends his arms outward and to the side, spear and shield held in opposing hands. He crosses his arms over his head, then brings them down rapidly, to his sides, while simultaneously bowing on one knee to the throng of gathered Wakandans. In synchrony, the community answers T’Challa’s gesture with the Wakandan salute, fists crossed over the chest, followed by a swift, graceful extension downward, and to the side. This group gesture is just one of the many moments of synchrony Wakandans deliberately generate during T’Challa’s coronation ritual.

Research on synchrony clearly reveals its ability to create a sense of group cohesion. In one study, persons who engaged in synchronous behaviors, such as marching, singing, and drumming, were more likely to contribute to the good of their group than members of groups that did not behave synchronously.³⁹ In addition, when group members share the goal of synchronizing with each other, they experience their relationship to the group much more holistically; that is, with an increased sense that they are a true part of the group, which is referred to as interdependent self-construal.⁴⁰

BECOMING ONE BY THINKING TOGETHER

“Let us begin, Shuri, in the ancient Wakandan duchy of Adowa.”

—the griot spirit41

As Shuri and the griot spirit practice fighting with long staffs, the griot tells the tale of how Wakanda first became united as a nation. This image of bodies and minds, moving together, reflects the Wakandan understanding of the rhythm and power of stories. Data indicate that behavioral synchrony leads to more prosocial behavior if it is accompanied by a mythological narrative, as opposed to a secular narrative.⁴² In addition, those who read more narrative fiction over the course of their lives are better able to understand that other people might have ideas, thoughts, and goals that are different from their own,⁴³ and also score higher on measures of empathy.⁴⁴ Finally, children whose parents reminisce with them in emotionally elaborative ways about past events, particularly negative ones, develop stronger self-concepts and have greater insight into their own feelings, as well as those of others.⁴⁵

Clearly, stories matter. As members of a group share knowledge, their conversations render some memories stronger, and others, weaker. This process of socially constructing collective memories, over time, is known as mnemonic convergence,⁴⁶ and as groups engage in it, they eventually give rise to what are known as “We” narratives. The “We” narrative “provides the typical format for the attribution of joint agency; it contributes to the formation of group identity, and it generates group stability.⁴⁷ As Shuri and the griot complete their training exercise, the griot ends her tale by exclaiming, “Either you are a nation, or you are nothing.”⁴⁸ Bringing the arc of the story and the rhythm of the training exercise to a conclusion, simultaneously, expresses the Wakandan understanding that the rhythms of both serve as a medium for the transference of memory and, ultimately, a stronger sense of who We are.

THE WILD NATURE OF GROUP NARRATIVES

Because group narratives emerge out of our lived lives, they are wild.49 Usually we live in them unconsciously, and experience surprise when we find that the world is different from what we have lived. Such surprise is expressed beautifully when Everett K. Ross, a state department liaison, and Queen Divine Justice, a Chicago girl of Wakandan descent, find themselves on a monorail in Wakanda. Ross’s life as a Washington, DC bureaucrat has led him to harbor a wild narrative in which he unconsciously experiences groups in terms of potential conflict. Thus, when he sees city dwellers and tribal villagers sitting next to each other, he thinks, “There was this huge diversity of cultures—all peacefully riding the ‘A’ train. But that peace was fragile.” Queen Divine Justice has a quite different reaction. Wiping a tear from her eye, she states, “We’re riding a monorail into one of the world’s most technologically advanced cities, built and occupied by Black people … seeing these beautiful faces, it, it changes everything.”⁵⁰ Clearly, the wild narratives embodied by these two characters reveal the differences in their lived lives, as well as the overwhelming influence wild narratives have on our moment-to-moment experiences of life, even though we are completely unaware that we harbor them.

BECOMING A NEW ONE

“But didn’t life start right here on this continent?

So ain’t all people your people?”

—Erik Killmonger51

Erik Killmonger has arrived in Wakanda with a hate-fueled desire to write a new story for its future. He says these words to T’Challa as he chastises the members of the Wakandan royal family for their country’s centuries-old policy of secluding themselves from the rest of the world. When Killmonger then challenges T’Challa for the throne and T’Challa accepts the challenge, we see how collective rituals serve a conservative role in transmitting a culture’s values, on the one hand, and a progressive role, on the other, by providing a way for the culture’s worldview to change. Specifically, by accepting Killmonger’s challenge, T’Challa is honoring his commitment to the Wakandan ritual of ascension. By instituting ritualized combat as a means of ascension, however, Wakandan tradition is allowing for the emergence of a new leader with a different worldview, one who might set Wakanda on a different course for the future.

Of course, their different perspectives on Wakanda’s future constitute a major source of tension between Killmonger and T’Challa. And, somewhat ironically, despite their differing views, it is the synchrony that emerges during their ritualized combat that provides T’Challa with the strength he needs to change himself. During their battle, T’Challa and Killmonger engage in mimicry, which is similar to synchrony in that both involve similar movements. However, in synchrony the behaviors happen at the same time, while in mimicry there is a time lag—merely seconds, usually, but a lag nevertheless.⁵² In addition, unlike synchronous behaviors, mimicked actions occur spontaneously and outside conscious awareness.

As T’Challa and Killmonger engage in combat, we see two highly skilled, well-matched martial artists whose strikes and parries begin to mirror each other, albeit unintentionally, with highly similar moves occurring seconds apart from each other. Research reveals that such mimicry, like synchrony, promotes affiliation, empathy, prosocial behavior, and even a blurring of the self with another.53 Thus, while the two are intent on defeating each other, the mimicry that spontaneously emerges during their combat provides a medium for T’Challa to unconsciously empathize with Killmonger’s plight. And although T’Challa ultimately defeats Killmonger, Wakanda, in fact, does have a new king. When Ramonda feeds T’Challa’s unconscious body the heart-shaped herb, he has a vision in which he confronts his father and ancestors and tells them that he must “right these wrongs”⁵⁴ and that he cannot join them in the Djalia until he does. It is clear that T’Challa’s decision to return to physical reality and reclaim the throne is not made out of a lust for power but out of a sense of moral responsibility. But the responsibility he feels does not end merely with overthrowing Killmonger and reclaiming the throne. He must stop Killmonger because, although he has become newly sympathetic to Killmonger’s suffering and plight, he cannot allow the violent uprisings that Killmonger is planning. However, due in no small part to their ritualistic battle, the unconscious mimicry that occurred, and the empathy it elicited, T’Challa goes further and does what no Black Panther before him has ever done: He overturns centuries of Wakanda’s stringently observed tradition of isolationism and spearheads an international outreach program.

THE EVER-GROWING WE

“When I was younger, you told me to always consider my actions, father.”

—T’Challa⁵⁵

T’Challa says these words as he contemplates whether or not to set off a bomb that will destroy an entire alternate earth that is about to crash into and annihilate our own. Because of his holistic culture, its commitment to experiencing itself as part of the larger cosmic order, its maintenance of cultural stability through collective ritual, and its understanding that collective narratives need to reflect our ever-changing world, T’Challa has come to experience himself and all of Wakanda as an embodiment of the struggle to be one single tribe, including unknown inhabitants of the multiverse. And just as his ever-growing “We” narrative gave him the courage to defy his father’s spirit, and break Wakanda’s centuries-old isolation,56 it now gives him the strength to defy his father’s wishes yet again, as he refuses to destroy the alternate earth.

Who is the Black Panther? He is the leader of those who would work to be an example of how to create a more relationally connected collective. It is important to note that in his speech to the UN, he explicitly states, “We will work to be an example,”⁵⁷ for such a line reflects the insight that lived life always lies at the intersection of choice and chance. T’Challa is inviting us to join him in the hard, holistic work of being one single tribe. The more we tell each other such a story, and the more we organize our collective lives around living in a more holistic way, the more it will become our collective narrative. In short, we, too, can become one with the Black Panther.

NOTES

1. New Avengers #18 (2014).

2. Passini (2010), p. 439.

3. Black Panther (2018 motion picture).

4. Jordan & Wesselmann (2015).

5. Black Panther #8 (2016).

6. Jordan (2013).

7. Jordan et al. (2015).

8. Lim et al. (2011), p. 24.

9. Lim et al. (2011), p. 24.

10. New Avengers #18 (2014).

11. Black Panther #5 (1998).

12. Lim et al. (2011).

13. Christopher & Hickinbottom (2008).

14. Black Panther #5 (1998).

15. Nisbett et al. (2001).

16. Christopher & Hickinbottom (2008), p. 579.

17. Nisbett et al. (2001), p. 291.

18. Nisbett et al. (2001).

19. Christopher & Hickinbottom (2008), p. 579.

20. Christopher & Hickinbottom (2008).

21. Black Panther #5 (1998).

22. Black Panther #5 (1998).

23. Jordan et al. (2017).

24. Jungle Action #9 (1974).

25. Lynch et al. (2017); Matthew 22:38.

26. Jungle Action #8 (1974).

27. Black Panther #6 (1999).

28. Lim et al. (2011), p. 22.

29. Lim et al. (2011), p. 24.

30. Lim et al. (2011), p. 24.

31. Brewer & Chen (2007).

32. Black Panther #6 (1999). Compare Matthew 18:20, 28:20.

33. Black Panther #6 (1999).

34. Fantastic Four #52 (1966).

35. Black Panther (2018 motion picture).

36. Black Panther #8 (2016).

37. Jordan (2013).

38. Black Panther (2018 motion picture).

39. Wiltermuth & Heath (2009).

40. Reddish et al. (2013).

41. Black Panther #5 (2016).

42. Cohen et al. (2014).

43. Mar et al. (2006).

44. Mumper & Gerrig (2017).

45. Salmon & Reese (2016).

46. Coman et al. (2016).

47. Gallagher & Tollefsen (2017).

48. Black Panther #5 (2016).

49. Jordan (2018).

50. Black Panther #20 (2000).

51. Black Panther (2018 motion picture).

52. Bargh & Chartrand (1999).

53. Lakin et al. (2003).

54. Black Panther (2018 motion picture).

55. New Avengers #21 (2014).

56. Black Panther (2018 motion picture).

57. Black Panther (2018 motion picture).