Our Sister Letitia Wright is our Royal Ambassador

ALMOST two decades ago the Stabroek News did an interview with me, then I was classified as a young businessman. They asked me to identify three business people worldwide that I admire, I’m in the illustrated arts business (Comic Book-Graphic Novel creation from concept to finish) so I identified Stan Lee of Marvel comics, Steven Spielberg and someone else, I think it was Walt Disney. At the time, I knew that Disney had supported the Nazi party, but I was focused on the Studios which had transcended him and with the people who were then managing it. Omar Saied attacked me on the pretext that they were all white. He and I had before then had a man-to-man public dissension on the prevalence of Afro-Guyanese victims of extrajudicial killings, which he also had brought in his letters to the public through the then PPP-manipulated Chronicle.

The curiosity with Stan Lee was my knowledge of The Black Panther movement, founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in October 1966, militant, socialist, but community-minded, and the so-called Banana Republic methods that the law-breaking Edgar Hoover and his FBI under Nixon had used against them even forcing a top female (Caucasian) film star who supported them to commit suicide. The Marvel comic book character of the Black Panther appeared as a sub-character in July 1966, featured In Fantastic Four, but was afterwards subdued in prevalence to the politics against the vibrant Black Panther party.

The character was created by the late Jack Kirby and Stan Lee of Marvel comics, but that Marvel in that troubled time of the Civil Rights Movement had brought the ‘Black Panther’ into American pop culture had demanded some courage.

2018: Letitia Wright is an official cultural self-appointed ambassador of Guyana, land of the Jaguar, her birth country, which makes me proud in more than one way. The foremost is that she emerges from the creative and cultural niche, which is still in the state of fledgeling recognition as a significant Industry worth investing in on the home front. Then, that her talents are honed, vibrant to completely enforce her symbolic role in the iconography of the ‘Black Panther.’

We must find a medium to invite and engage this talented sister; in an appropriate relaxed moment, for she is building a career in the volatile world of the very serious entertainment-arts industry with its demanding promotional procedures that have to be adhered to. Perhaps if it can occur. August would be a great time, an Emancipation event with an aura of pageantry. I have mentioned this to the acting Director of Culture in a phone conversation. There’s interest there, and I have great anticipation that Guyana can respond and host this young actress who definitely is on the journey of her career and can share with us what she has learnt so far, providing we can fashion the dialogue that will extract and impart equally to all.

The Black Panther is a consequence of the American Civil Rights struggle and the two eras of European colonising history coupled with the mythologies of tribal origins. For example, the ancient Dahomeans of West Africa believed that an ancestor of their tribe was a magical Leopard that mated with a human princess. Such a background contributes to the mystique of the Black Panther. Perhaps these influences merged with the artistic skill that is required in the genre of illustrated storytelling launched this unorthodox of that time. A comic book character in 1966 is now animated on the screen and manifested by live actors, tapping into our historical memory with recognition of its symbolisms. Wherever the movie takes us does not interfere with the symbolic memory it has aroused.

There is also the subliminal awareness that such strong Afro characters were resisted both overseas and in Guyana not so long ago (I have written about my experiences). I had to create special circumstances to achieve publication. The comic book has long defied the simple description that refers to a dynamic medium of expression and even political propaganda. The comic book hero embodies our timeless inheritance of tribal heroes, our fond tales, and the conflicts of our pagan Gods. Today it captures and transforms the human culture from where we began artistically as species, to tell our stories in bold graphics in caves and on hewn stone, to the technological creatures we have now become.

We must follow Letitia Wright. She has worked her way into a landmark production that will now influence whatever she does next, and as a matter of fact, this will apply to her entire lead team. The Black Panther follows the path of Blade, but its superhero portrayal is separate; its platform unique in symbolism, cast and imagery in that it spreads across the African Diaspora. The Black Panther is a very smart and timely production.