After the transition of Chadwick Boseman, my thoughts returned to Black Panther and previous research I did into the meaning of the name Wakanda. If you know anything about my writing process, etymology plays a big part of the work I do. Going back to that research (I came up with several theories including the Bantu origin of the title below), I was inspired to write a poem that comforted me during this time and I hope it comforts you in some way.
Ukwanda
“…death is not the end. It’s more of a stepping point.”
When I first heard the name
___________________Wakanda
I was curious for its ____ ori gin
Where Lee and Kirby got it
All I ______________found
was it could’ve been the name
of a great spirit
of the people of a tribe
the Kikongo name for family
a source and a destination
a nation where we can live
a place of goodness
a place where lost words and gods go
a place where summer never sets
a place that holds us all together
a home
for a Black_____________________Pan_____ther
for what it means
to keep going speaking building breathing
crossing over like that lost tribe
carrying the image of that great spirit
into that other space
called____________________________Grow
_____________ the being larger than the I
______________________________and WE will reach there together
_______________________________as ONE in the unseen paradise
Sherese Francis: Futuristically Ancient 