Why Black Feminists Despise Erik Killmonger

By:  BlackConservative93

It did not take long for black Twitter to start a civil war with #TeamTChalla versus #TeamKillmonger.  When it comes to popularity, Erik Killmonger has won the love of black people, especially with his unapologetic views on race and black dominance.  Unfortunately, a hit was published on bossip.com accusing Killmonger of being anti-black women/misogynist.  Honestly it is a silly argument because like usual, feminists want to pick and choose when to practice gender equality.  When the Wakandan women signed up to be elite warriors, obviously the thought of fighting men came to mind.  So I hate it when feminists treat female superheroes as children when relavent, yet gloat when they finally win a physical gender war.

What bothered black feminists the most was Killmonger sacrificing his girlfriend Linda (played by Nabiyah Be) in order to kill Klaue.  The Bonnie & Clyde-like romance between the two was short lived.  It deserved to be expanded, despite the popular feminist belief that Killmonger was “Chris Brown with military training” when in fact he was actually in favor of black women.  His betrayed father was not the reason why Killmonger was denied his birthright to the throne; it was his mixture of African American blood.  His African American mother was tainted and seen as unworthy, despite his skin tone resembling Wakandans.  He was treated with the reverse effect of the 1 Drop Rule which was odd, yet unique as it was strange to see Africans to do this when in history it was African ancestry that was and is demonized as dirty and impure.  The film did not convince me that I as an African American was wanted in Africa, especially when African nations are silent for not fighting hard enough during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.  Pan-Africanism sounds good in theory, but in practice it is not worth my time convincing Africans that white Jesus is not real and that Western nations are taking away their resources for free.  In reference to the film, the shock and rebellion of Killmonger’s  reign is a reminder of how African American men’s authority is questioned, especially among black women.  I saw the metaphor as the Dora Milaje (Black Panther’s bodyguards) as black feminists.  Our leadership is scary and unknown.  Despite women being allowed in the Wakandan military, they failed to see how the world really works.  It is not about being everyone’s savior, except our own.  Killmonger was shamed into thinking that his vendetta against white supremacy would make him an honorary white man.  This sounds familiar as I recall an article by Damon Young comparing straight black men to white supremacists.  Winning is not about looking good or playing fair.  Killmonger was a visionary that borrowed the Art of War from Sun Tzu, the Black Panther Party, Micah Johnson, Malcom X and Nat Turner.

If Linda was to live at least a bit longer, her ideology might have helped (the metaphoric) feminists in the film to understand that black liberation is not working by an isolated/token black excellence to non-violence protest.  The misconception of her death was that she was a pawn to his vision, when in actuality she knew what she signed up for and she volunteered to sacrifice herself for his cause.  Granted, I will agree that her death was unnecessary, but if she was kept alive she might have saved him and he might have realized that Wakanda and black people around world did not deserve his leadership.  This is the problem most (real) pro-blacks face as we wonder if black people would appreciate us as martyrs.  From the real Black Panthers, their sacrifices were laid to waste as black people refuse to practice their 2nd Amendment right to even Malcolm X as his breakdown of Christianity was not enough to end the worship of white Jesus.  Middle-of-the-roaders like myself are taking notes that our lives, despite racism in America, is not worth me giving up for black people who want to fist bump “black power” because of a movie.  When it came to serious matters to attend for the black community, the turnout is low.  I learned my lesson from college that my visions of black excellence and pride were too much, especially for black women.  My ideas were discarded and laughed at it and now people should not even be surprised that I am a conservative.

The lack of feminine support bothered me on how Killmonger had to practice so-called toxic masculinity to have the Dora Milaje to follow his orders.  The burning of the sacred garden was a testament that tradition and matriarchy is not working.  The need for a new king after him was disrespectful to his leadership.  There was no need to fight other black men for a title and King of Wakanda holds no weight against other nations (remember Wakanda is seen as a 3rd world country).  Furthermore, the Wakandan tradition had to be destroyed when T’Challa’s ex-girlfriend and his family broke it to revive the original Black Panther.  In retrospect, this is a reality of how black revolution has been divided between the genders and how white society continues to elect puppet black leaders.

Another important character that was not mentioned or featured in the film was Killmonger’s mother.  After the death of his father, I would assume that he lived with her or he was abandoned by her.  Based of the movie alone, the silence of her existence in his life was a metaphor of his imbalance and toxic masculinity.  The great black feminist question is “Why are black men abusive or anti-black woman?”  As a product of the hood, Killmonger learning how to be aggressive and angry was his gateway to manhood.  He is fighting the dueling forces from white society towards his own people.  Black men are trying be protectors, yet the major problem is that black women do not understand the purpose of violence, especially from older black women like our mothers and grandmothers.  Honestly, most black mothers would not want their sons to be radically pro-black.  Granted, black mothers (women 40 and up) would like their sons to be T’Challa who is educated and values women’s opinions and feelings.  Killmonger is for the millennial black girl who is not really impressed with passivity or challenging other black men for dominance.  This is normal even in the animal kingdom as the female species sees survival of her and her offspring through the savage behaviors of her mate.  Women do not understand what men have to (or at least chose to do) to have the admiration of women.  Even in earning the title of Black Panther, T’Challa and those before him had to fight their own brothers and sisters even to the point of death.  As much as I like Killmonger, he does prove the notion that the bad boy swagger made him sexually appealing on and off the screen.  His diction stayed true to his Oakland roots, despite him being a brilliant student.  I mean, there are not any D-boys who are getting STEM degrees, joining the CIA and becoming weapons’ specialist.  He is the fantasy version of Tupac with a degree.  Who knows why his girlfriend liked him, but unfortunately as depicted in the film black men always must trade our intelligence for sex.  Killmonger honors black women by giving them their ideal perspective of manhood.  He understood struggle, yet did not let his circumstances stop him from achieving his goal taking the throne.