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Writer: Nnedi Okorafor / Artists: Rachael Scott & Carlos Lopez / Marvel

“Don’t Stall!” “I Never Stall.”

You know when you forget something and it messes up your plans, so now you gotta retrace your steps before everything else falls like a domino effect? Shuri’s going through the same thing, y’all. Her memories are linked to her powers as The Black Panther, and an extremely important memory was wiped clean. I’m not gonna lie to you, it took everything in me to not say: “that’s a hot metaphor, let’s unpack” like the literature analyzer that I am. Well, I’m here to tell you that once again I lacked the power to resist (I probably never will, either). So, “let’s unpack”.

Erasure and Our Connection to Spirituality

Consider this: one constant throughout modern times is the erasure of black history and its contributions to society. The American public school system narrows it down to a couple of warped excerpts from the speeches of “acceptable” civil rights leaders to support the inclusion of whiteness in the function of daily life. In turn, this tends to separate our reality from the importance of our history and our links to future improvements as a culture. Shuri begins to lose the flexibility of her powers — the sturdiness and ability to shape-shift her flesh — after her loss of connection with an important memory which ignited that power of the suit. Her search to regain that memory in the spiritual realm is her attempt at reversing such an erasure.

Shuri #8 connects spirituality to the past. From the Baobab tree to the lost village, what unifies these experiences? Why does it affect the characters’ perceptions and abilities in “the now”? Erasure takes on different forms. Wanting to ignore our memories or our history, it follows us annoyingly in our own heads and later projecting itself before our eyes. I love how Shuri’s series never fails to remind us the importance of spirituality in this way. What we might have forgotten is not lost, but rather to be searched for. Certain relics before us have the ability to ignite memories and keep in touch with the spiritual realm, to serve as a meeting point across various generations (i.e.: the Baobab tree). These meeting points allow us to take on different abilities (i.e. shape-shifting in Shuri), and analyze the connections within our own experiences for application our daily lives.

Our Faded Connections

At times these memories haunt us, transforming into different entities that take over our well-being. Being in touch with them can open up both previous trauma and ways that were used to escape it. Not all memories bring back joy. Sometimes they hold us hostage. I feel like this comic was in tune with that sentiment. Shuri #8 opened my eyes to the fact that our own memories our sometimes the villain in our story. We can’t always overpower them and we may not be able to vocalize them, there are people to help us (…did Shuri #8 give me a lesson or two on how to deal with depressive episodes? Probably.) The Okorafor-Scott-Lopez team took us on a journey through quips, colors, and famous tunes to help readers come to terms with combating erasure on our own spiritual journeys.

9.3 Spirit Bombs out of 10

Reading Shuri #8? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.

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Source: MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images / Getty

Media personality Van Lathan posed an interesting question via his Twitter account recently, it was directed specifically at parents.

I’m not a parent but I had strong feelings about this question from the moment I finished reading it. I love me some Beyoncé. Her talent, her work ethic, her music, her movement, I think she’s a beast. And Jay Z is cool too. But I don’t know her. So the thought of sending my child away to live with the couple is out of the question, I don’t care how much money is on the table.

But to my surprise, a lot of parents on the internet didn’t share my feelings. Most of the responses to Lathan’s question went as follows.

When The Shade Room posted the question the responses over there were similar. My sister even noted that comedian D.L. Hughley, who has plenty of his own money, responded like so, “yall make sure you brush after every meal and say your prayers. We gonna buy you something nice with this lil 10k we got for letting you stay with uncle jay and aunite bey.”

There are several things at play here. One, I was raised with overly cautious parents, especially my mother. We were given explicit instructions never to sit in any man’s lap. There were several conversations about our body parts, boundaries, privacy, good touch/ bad touch.

Two, there are members of my family who have been the victim of sexual assault at the hands of other family members and people they knew, so anyone can be a potential threat.

And lastly, I watched HBO’s Leaving Neverland documentary not too long ago. And literally, Michael Jackson asked Wade Robeson’s mother if he could keep her son in his care and in his house for a full year. And while there are several mistakes Wade’s mother made along the way—including leaving him with Michael for a week while the rest of the family went to the Grand Canyon—she had enough sense not to leave her child with another person for a year on end.

When we, as a community, discuss Michael Jackson or R. Kelly, we question how the parents let something like this happen. We wonder why they were so trusting with their children. And for me, it’s not that hard to see why. Celebrity, particularly in America, is not only powerful, but it also gives us the false notion that we know these people. When we really don’t. I’m not making any type of judgment about Beyoncé and Jay Z as it relates to child abuse. But three million dollars—or any other dollar amount is not worth the risk.

What’s really interesting about Lathan’s question is that it’s purely hypothetical. As far as I know, he doesn’t share a particularly close relationship with the Carters but even the suggestion from him, an outsider, with far less fame has folks shipping their kids down the river. Imagine now, what people, parents would have done, if Beyoncé, Jay Z, Michael Jackson or R. Kelly had made this request themselves, in person with all we know about their fame, talent, riches and influence? Then we get a clearer picture of how and why parents made the choices that they did, even in the midst of red flags.

In Lathan’s question, he says that parents can only speak to their child once a week. That alone is fishy. Why just once a week? Why is access to my child being limited? That was not a little condition.

I don’t know if D.L. Hughley runs his own social media account. I don’t know if he typed that comment. And the following is not meant to shame him—but he knows firsthand what it’s like to have his child be the victim of sexual abuse—by someone he did know very well. The idea or even the suggestion that he would still after all he’s experienced, be willing to ship his kids off to strangers is unfortunate, to say the least.

I posted Lathan’s question in my Instagram stories and my friend responded with a sad truth.

“Girl, people ship their kids off because they don’t want them in the laundromat with them. The money just added the hell yea factor.”

I told y’all, I’m not a parent, so I can’t even imagine the mental, physical and emotional work that’s required to raise children. I have no idea. But what I do know is that children, generally, are only in our protection for a short period of time. And we can’t risk their physical and psychological safety for anything—especially not something as hollow as money. It doesn’t matter who it is.

Writer: Saladin Ahmed / Artist: Javier Garrón / Marvel Comics

The hunt for Tombstone leads to an unlikely encounter. At the end of the last issue, Miles ended up crossing paths with Starling, another hero from Detroit. Without giving too much away, you’ll come to learn that she has serious beef with Tombstone and an unlikely connection to Spider-Man. She’s also Miles latest superhero team-up of the week.

It’s like writer Saladin Ahmed is challenging himself to see how many awkward encounters Miles can have with the rest of the heroes in the Marvel universe. To be honest, I am starting to get a The New Scooby-Doo Movies vibe with the rotating cast of heroes guest-starring in this book. However, the guest-star-of-the-week feel is actually enjoyable, as the characters Ahmed pairs Miles with complement him well.

Ahmed uses Starling to not only create a pretty badass superhero but to contrast with Miles in more ways than one. Starling’s beef with Tombstone is strong. It basically shapes how she goes about being a hero, which is a sharp turn from the way Miles does things. She’s more aggressive, less awkward, and has no qualms about permanently putting bad guys down. It’s understandable, though and, clearly, not the way Miles does things. It’s interesting to see him deal with someone who has the exact opposite thoughts on how criminals should be punished.

Despite Starling’s more violent tendencies, she seems to have a better handle on just how to deal with life. Miles also has a lot going on in his life lately. Issue after issue, all of his personal problems seem to be piling on. The Spider-Man curse is in full effect. Miles still doesn’t know how to handle things, however, and it shows. His life is starting to unravel and his issues with trust are only going to make things worse.

Saladin Ahmed is truly beginning to shape Miles as a character. I love how his story is being told: with some humor, great characters, and situations that really put Miles to the test as a superhero. Most of all, it feels grounded, which just makes the writing all the better.

8.5 Falling Tombstones out of 10

Reading Miles Morales: Spider-Man? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.

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