Chadwick Boseman - celebrated for portraying heroism

August 28 the world was shocked by the announcement that 43 year old Chadwick Boseman, actor extraordinaire of multiple heroic figures had succumbed to four years of battling colon cancer. Few knew of his battle as he maintained active portrayal of such great figures as Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, and of course T’Challa of “Black Panther.”

Chadwick's rise to stardom was meteoric and his death inexplicable. In his last film, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," Chadwick plays the role of Levee, a struggling young musician who doesn't fit the conventional heroic figure of his earlier films. Except that Chadwick brought the transcendent into the room as his character shouts his protest to God who Levee decries as having abandoned him. Fellow actors recognized, and I dare say viewers will also, that God was in the room. Levee's lines ring through to define Black's struggle in the U.S.A. from the days of slavery to the present and they serve as a protest to Chadwick's own death at such an early age. The witness Chadwick leaves in the roles he played as well as the way he lived his life is that everyone needs to be the hero of her or his own story, a sentiment shared when he was interviewed by Trevor Noah.

 

Mythic stories, often including some form of heroic figure, give us meaning in life, as author Joseph Campbell has portrayed. When we read, view a film, or simply take a moment to reflect, we realize that many of our motivations from day to day are inspired by someone who has faced great challenge and either conquered or transcended it. These mythic stories seldom come from individuals who claim their heroism. Instead, individuals are more often granted heroic status as a result of doing what they are driven to do, fulfilling the promise that results from pursuing one’s passion.

 

As Chadwick Boseman declared in his 2018 commencement address to the graduating class of Howard University, "struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose. When I dared to challenge the system that would relegate us to victims and stereotypes with no clear historical backgrounds, no hopes or talents, when I questioned that method of portrayal, a different path opened up for me, the path to my destiny." Boseman chose to define himself rather than be defined by others. Taking this path was not an act of grandiosity or a proclamation of his heroism. It was simply a way for him to be true to himself during his short and conviction-filled life. Boseman's example inspires me and is likely to inspire many others who will follow in his path.