The Oreo, the King, and the Wakandan Salute: What Black Panther Shows Us About Why Representation Matters

There’s a journey we all go on in life to become our most authentic, fully realized self. But, if you live in a culture where you don’t get to see fully realized versions of a very large part of your identity, then it can be difficult to find the courage to show up as your best self. Being a Black nerd in the late 90s/early 00s was difficult, to say the least. When everyone else was reading Eric Jerome Dickey, I had my face in a Harry Potter book. When everyone else was listening to B2K, I was popping to Backstreet Boys. And although I wasn’t alone in these pursuits, the idea that a Black kid could be so enamored with genres and interests that didn’t progressively showcase her heritage was still an odd thing to most in the Black community.

In this workshop, licensed psychotherapist Mercedes Samudio will use her personal experience as a so-called “white-washed” Black girl to explore how important representation is, especially when your identity is part of a marginalized culture. We’ll explore racial identity development as well as psychosocial development and social learning theories, and how all three are influenced by the representation illustrated in the movie. We will also explore what it looks like to assimilate to the dominant culture and be ridiculed for it because the genres and entertainment you enjoy don’t have enough representation. Lastly, we’ll explore and dive into a discussion on the influence movies like Black Panther have on Black kids to finally see themselves reflected in a genre that’s predominantly been dominated by white figures and images.

Learning Objectives:

1. Demonstrate self-reflection technique to address representation and unconscious bias
2. Discuss representation of African-Americans in media as it relates to racial identity development
3. Explore how psychosocial development determines our ability to relate to others and understand ourselves
4. Illustrate the effects of social learning theory on how we develop social norms and its influence on identity development