Remembering the King

I honestly don't know how I'm going to be able to write this because I still can't believe this man is gone now... I know I never met him (even though I wanted to at some point), and I know I haven't seen him in a lot of stuff, but goddamn it, when he hit his mark, he made sure you felt something, and it didn't matter what. I know I got a little sidetracked because I don't know how I want to write this, so please bear with me.

Picture this... You're 19 years old, and you just had a shitty time with dealing with a loan after your first quarter at community college. You don't have a job, and your friends barely want to talk to you, your family wants to make things harder for you by either egging you on about a job or turn you into a butt end of a joke, so the only thing that's helping you cope is movies and news about them. A few TV shows help, but mainly movies. Now, it's springtime, and a little film about Jackie Robinson comes out, Harrison Ford is in it, and you're already a fan of his, but who's the guy they have playing Jackie Robinson? An actor named Chadwick Boseman, and who's the 19-year-old in this short moment of nostalgia? It was me.

I'm 26 now, and I've had the pleasure of meeting Stewart Stern, the writer of Rebel without a Cause, and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man). I'm an actor who's trying to find his way about making his mark, and of course, there are people I still want to meet sometime and he was one of those people. Believe it or not, now that I look back on everything I've been through, Chadwick was right there on the screen, whether on TV, my crappy old Apple laptop, or even my phone.

After seeing him as Jackie Robinson in 42, I watched him as a street magician in Castle with Nathan Fillion, and around that same time, I had heard that he was playing James Brown in Get on Up. I honestly wasn't sure how the movie or even he was going to turn out, but I remember just shrugging it off, yet at the same time, I was still going to see it because I'm a fan of James Brown's music, and I always liked seeing him dance. I didn't see the movie during its theatrical run, but months later, I moved into a new house with my family, and I was finally ready to watch it on my crappy Apple laptop. I don't remember if I paused the movie or anything when I finally watched it. Still, I remember being captivated and entirely astounded by this man playing the Godfather of Soul. I spent more time listening and watching James Brown perform more than I heard him talk like a regular person doing everyday things, but Chadwick NAILED it portraying James Brown. He was so good as James Brown that whenever the concert scenes would happen or if there was a song that I was familiar with, I wanted to get on up and start dancing. He BECAME James Brown.

For some reason, I was only prepared for him to do what he did best, which was playing historical black figures and make a few guest spots on TV shows, but after the best summer of my life in 2014, I was either walking to a friend's place or riding the bus home from school, and that was when I got the news that he was playing Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, I remember being excited because Black Panther was going to be in a movie so like I usually do with movies, I patiently wait and do stuff to keep me busy.

It was time for the movie to come out two years later, and I remember seeing it. Everyone in the film did amazing as their characters, but the biggest standout besides Spider-Man and the most conversations I had with people were about Chadwick as Black Panther; we all agreed that he was the best part of the movie because he... CRUSHED... it. While watching the movie, I thought to myself, "He's gotta get his standalone movie! You don't come into Cap's movie and shine LIKE THIS!"

For some reason, I was on a roll in 2016 because I called it that not only The Punisher would get his standalone show after being in season 2 of Daredevil, but I also knew that Black Panther would get his standalone movie. Then, everything was coming together. Ryan Coogler being behind the camera and a writer of the film with Michael B. Jordan as the villain, Lupita Nyong'o and Angela Bassett were going to be in it and a lot more people being added to the movie. I was so ready for it, and my seat was reserved long before I saw anything for it.

Then, I saw he was playing Thurgood Marshall in the movie, Marshall. I've never seen the movie, but I know who Thurgood Marshall is, so I was glad to see that he was portraying another historical black figure that I was already familiar with.

After Marshall, Black Panther was in theaters, and I knew the film would be a game-changer, but I didn't expect the movie to hit as hard as it did. I was 23 years old, and I was sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start, lots of people were coming in, and I couldn't believe the sight I was seeing. I wasn't alone in the theater, it was a mixed crowd, but other black folks were there besides myself. Men, women, kids, I even saw two older people there, and they were black as well, plus I saw a black man wearing a dashiki. I was there for a superhero movie, but they were there for something more than that, and the more I think about that day, the harder it hits me, especially now that the king is gone.

Three years later, after the enormous successes of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, I was at home doing my part to keep COVID-19 from spreading and leaving the house when I need to. I watched Da 5 Bloods beforehand, and Delroy Lindo might've had an outstanding performance, but Chadwick as a socially conscious soldier and the leader of the Bloods laying out his knowledge about stuff during the Vietnam War, it was like watching him in Get On Up all over again. So I was at home, watching YouTube videos and surfing on my laptop until I started talking to my friend about the AT&T actress and how beautiful she is. After that, he asked me the question that I'm never really ready for, "Did you hear about who died?" I've lost two friends of mine, and I couldn't handle the idea of losing another, so I bit anyway. I asked who, and that's when he told me who it was...

I couldn't believe it. I hectically looked him up on Google and hoped it was just a hoax, but sadly, it was true because not only did I see some legit movie sites like Deadline and Variety post the news, I saw his Twitter even though I don't have one anymore and next to his picture was a statement from his family. I let out the loudest no as I possibly could... Once I saw how old he was, I instantly got worried about my mom because she's around the same age as he was, so I talked to her to see how she was doing. Then, another friend of mine messaged me about how he deals with depression, and this is the second time he's dealt with it after a great celebrity has died; he told me the first time was when Christopher Lee died in 2015. This was the second time. He even asked me why does the world always manage to take away the best people and leave the shitty people.

It's so weird to be in a world without someone like Chadwick Boseman, who was not only a phenomenal actor, but he was just a hopeful figure as well. If it weren't for him playing James Brown, I wouldn't be into music and showmanship as much as I was before, or if he hadn't played T'Challa, I wouldn't be feeling the way I do when it comes to seeing black superheroes on the big screen and breaking down doors the way he did. Also, seeing him do his thing would make me want to get better at what I do. Most importantly, if Chadwick never existed in the first place, I wouldn't be making the decisions or wanting what's best for me as an actor, so I'm devastated that this king is gone, but at the same time, he's the actor that showed me that it's possible to play roles that don't do good for you but for the people that's watching you.

Rest easy and in power, brotha.