Creating History with Marvel
With Black History Month upon us, I would like to talk about the importance of equal representation in media. The piece of media I am going to be looking into will be a “Black Panther” novel, Shuri by Nic Stone. This book is directed towards young adults and has not yet been published. The release date is May 5, 2020, for those who are interested in reading the novel.
The book follows the princess of Wakanda, Shuri, who is a very talented and passionate female main character. She is not exactly keen on being a true princess; she likes to work in a lab trying to create a new and better panther suit for her brother. Meanwhile, her mother, the queen, is insistent on her going to dress fittings and royal events. Throughout the novel, we see Shuri face many challenges that get increasingly more serious as the plot goes on. Shuri is brave and confident in herself because she is pursuing something that she needs to do in order to solve the conflict.
This book does not only represent black women but all women. Shuri is supposed to be a prim and proper young lady as she is the princess. But, she is really like any other person and does not feel that she has to follow what her mother wants from her. One of my favorite parts of the novel is when she forgets that she is supposed to behave but passes gas anyways. It really made me feel like she was any other person. The way this book is written really makes you connect with the character. Shuri is quite sassy and interesting; it makes her feel like she is a real person with their own faults and personality. Being able to connect with the character of any book is great for the representation of that community that it is connecting to.
Not only do we see her personality bloom at the beginning of the book, but as the story progresses, we see her become someone fearless and powerful, fighting for herself and her country. The positive representation that we see from this character can positively affect people of color all around the world. With it being set in a fictional country, many people are able to connect to the character since it is not tied to just one location’s culture. This makes it a great novel for representation for black history as it is not representing the community in a bad way like many films and novels have done before. This book depicts its characters as brave, powerful, and fearless.
While researching the importance of equal representation in media, I came across a Forbes article that states “the erasure and negative portrayals of people of color can adversely affect how people of color see themselves” (Why is Representation Important? 2019). I believe that this book is an important piece of representation for people of color and history that can be created from positive representation. This book plays a huge role in the positive representation of a black main character who is strong and passionate about her goals in life.
Stone,Nic. Shuri — A Black Panther Novel. S.l.: SCHOLASTIC (US), 2020.
“Why Is Equal Representation In Media Important?”. 2020. Forbes.Com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/05/22/why-is-equal-representation-in-media-important/#1cac76472a84.