Black Panther and Philosophy. Группа авторов

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СКАЧАТЬ Seen Too Many in Need Just to Turn a Blind Eye.”

Ifeanyi Menkiti argues that proverbs and wisdom within African thought and tradition uphold mutuality and the sense of not holding one’s self above others. He presents two proverbs from Igbo cultures (from Nigeria) that he argues can provide “ordering perspective with which we can approach justice.”²⁰ The first, ebele umu uwa translates to “pity the children of the world.”²¹ The proverb is not a call to feel pity or mercy for those poor children out there, but rather an expression that includes one’s self. It acknowledges that we are all in a situation of requiring pity. The point is not to put us down, but, as Menkiti explains: to “make possible the practice of reconciliation on an ongoing basis; [the proverb] makes possible also the acknowledgements that all of us need and can use, so as not to come down too heavily on ourselves and the moments of personal error, personal failure or professional defeat.”²²

For Menkiti, this position of pity and mercy enables one to “better position oneself to uphold the perspective of human dignity, even as failures and breakages occur all around one.”²³ It thus encourages a worldview that holds “that human dignity is hard-won; it is precarious and constant effort is needed to uphold it.”²⁴ The expression cannot be easily or simply translated, but the above discussion reveals that it is an inclusive statement, speaking to the reality we all find ourselves in, and a sense of mutually upholding human dignity within it (through pity, forgiveness, reconciliation). Indeed, Menkiti reinforces this sense of mutuality with another proverb: “aka nni kwo aka ekpe, aka ekpe kwo aka nni,” which means “the right hand washes the left, the left hand washes the right.”²⁵ He argues that we would do well to approach international relations through the lens of these “many innocuous rituals of daily life.”²⁶

These examples are not exhaustive of all that African philosophy can contribute to this debate, nor do they suggest there is complete consensus. They do suggest, however, that there is a strong strand of African philosophy that, drawing from traditional conceptions of justice and society, argues for accounts of what we owe each other that lean toward the cosmopolitan, toward the welcoming and inclusion of, dependence on, and respect for the other. Truly, it is striking that these themes are not given a more central place in the way of life of Wakanda, supposedly an example of an isiXhosa-speaking African community, unaffected by any external influences.

      “What Would You Have Wakanda Do about It?”

      African philosophy offers a stark contrast to typical Western contributions to the global justice debate. Western views tend to focus on how best to distribute resources because they’re concerned with answering the question “what would you like us to do about it?” We do not spend enough time around typical Wakandans to get a good sense of their way of life. But the Wakandans featured in the film seem to embody this Western mindset. Beyond their borders exists only “the other,” who is to be feared or on occasion assisted, but not valued. The foreigners we encounter in the movie are to be pitied (the Nigerian girls being kidnapped) or feared and mistrusted (Klaus, Killmonger, and even Agent Ross, to some extent). There is no sense in which foreigners should be valued for their shared humanity or what we can learn from “the stranger.”

      My argument is not that traditional African ideas should have been the dominant thinking of Wakandan society. Rather, my point is that it is strange that such ideas do not even feature on the lips of the elders or some characters, and given the long history of isolation, have not been the norm for a long time. The fact that N’Jabu and Killmonger are radicalized outside of Wakanda precisely reinforces this point – those who do go beyond the borders are the ones who begin to view others as “our people.” The fact that Wakanda had not yet changed its position suggests that very few citizens ever meaningfully interacted with those beyond their borders, thus reinforcing their parochial perspective.

      Ultimately, we see that T’Challa is convinced of the need to respond to the injustice of the world. Yet, despite what T’Challa says in his speech to the United Nations at the end of the film, his decision to “no longer watch from the shadows” appears to be motivated by the need to help, not by a sense of oneness with all of humanity, as understood through African philosophy.

      Our People

      I watched Black Panther in a theater in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, with a group of mostly isiXhosa-speaking students, who laughed and delighted in the passing comments in isiXhosa throughout the film. I led discussions and read essays on their responses to the film. It was a privileged experience, and a fantastic hook into a class on global justice and African philosophy.

Perhaps it is this context that amplified the dissonance between the film and African philosophy: on the one hand the voices of Wakanda spoke of “our way of life” and protecting our people: “I chose my people. I chose Wakanda.”; “people who are not our own”; “I am not King of all people. I am King of Wakanda.” On the other hand, the African philosophers we studied spoke frequently of “mutuality,” “reciprocity,” “relatedness” – of engaging with the other rather than fearing the other.

      Wakanda is, of course, fictional. So, it does not need to be held accountable to empirical reality. Yet, Wakanda is clearly located in Africa and tries to represent a version of what Africa is, and could have been: a place that thrives in its own way. It is odd, then, that “the way” of the people of Wakanda appears to be largely shaped by a Western perspective rather than traditional African thought.

Much has happened with regard to the issue of global justice since Black Panther’s 2018 release – many around the world have joined in to support the American Black Lives Matter movement against systematic racism in US law enforcement and criminal justice systems, and the depth of global inequality and its dire consequences has been highlighted in a new and stark way through the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be interesting then to see how (or if) Black Panther’s sequel addresses these issues of injustice. Will the perspective remain Westernized? Or, will the filmmakers show a Wakanda that speaks more clearly to the histories of African philosophies and ways of life? And, what will be the effect of Wakanda’s global outreach? Will Wakanda still view the world as others who need help, or will Wakandans embrace the concept of ubuntu and truly view the world as one?²⁷

      Notes

      1 1. Miranda Fricker, Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).

      2 2. Dennis Masaka, “‘Global Justice’ and the suppressed epistemologies of the indigenous people of Africa,” Philosophical Papers 46 (2017), 70.

      3 3. Michael Onyebuchi Eze, “I am because you are: Cosmopolitanism in the age of xenophobia,” Philosophical Papers 46 (2017), 99.

      4 4. Edwin Etieyibo, “Ubuntu, cosmopolitanism, and distribution of natural resources,” Philosophical Papers 46 (2017), 141.

      5 5. Etieyibo, 154.

      6 6. Mogobe B. Ramose, African Philosophy through Ubuntu (Harare: Mond Books, 1999), 52.

      7 7. Eze, 99.

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