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Culture Check: The real world of Wakanda

By Daley Wilhelm Wakanda is not a real country. But what’s important is that it could have been, which is one of the core messages behind Black Panther that makes the film so poignant, especially at this moment in history. In the film, the fictional country features an amalgam of African cultures and traditions, with Wakanda representing what might have been in the absence of the violence of colonization. Wakanda’s history is explained as the movie opens. After a meteor hit the African continent, it affected the plant and wildlife, along with creating the largest deposit of vibranium on Earth. Around this resource, five tribes united to create the kingdom of Wakanda.

Religion

Image from Aeromental
Image from Firstpost
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Image from the Disney Wikia

Costume design with diversity in mind

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Vibranium is actually uranium

Image from The SciFi Stack Exchange
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Written and spoken Wakandan

Black Panther Captain America: Civil War who speaks Xhosa

“Coloniser”

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CinemaBlend osu.edu Quartz Religion News The Points Guy Aeromental The SciFi Stack Exchange the Disney Wikia Firstpost

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