Loss of Chadwick Boseman Becomes a Reminder of Rough 2020 for Black Icons

LOS ANGELES, KOMPAS.com - Kobe Bryant, Rep. John Lewis, and Chadwick Boseman are among the popular Black icons that have lost their lives in 2020 further entrenching this tough year.

2020 has been marred with bad news and tragedy with the deaths of several popular Black icons.

Bryant, Lewis, and Boseman were considered leaders in their respective fields of sports, politics, and film.

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These three fields are where people, particularly in the Black community have often looked for inspiration during a year of racial tension and protests against the police brutality of unarmed Black people.

But for many, the loss of another major figure such as Boseman is taking a toll.

The actor, who starred in the blockbuster superhero Marvel film “Black Panther”, shockingly died at the age of 43 in his home in Los Angeles after he privately battled colon cancer for four years.

“These are pillars in our community,” Rev. Al Sharpton said.

“In times of instability, you depend on pillars. It’s bad enough when there’s a storm outside and you hear the lightning and thunder. It gets worse when the pillars that you’re building and standing on (are) shaking. It’s like they’re chipping away at our foundation. The very building is shaking down, because the things that undergird and protect us from the storms are being removed.”

Sharpton called Boseman an important pillar that humanized several Black historical trailblazers in his roles — including color-line breaking baseball star Jackie Robinson, legendary singer James Brown and the first African American US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Boseman's family said he endured “countless surgeries and chemotherapy” while portraying King T’Challa of Wakanda in the Oscar-nominated “Black Panther”, a film that proved a person of color could lead in a successful superhero film.

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“For him to pass at this time when we are disproportionately affected by Covid and have all of these attacks by law enforcement, and him being the symbol bringing us to Wakanda, it’s just a blow,” Sharpton said.

“To hear that our superhero who projected a positive light was now gone, it was a gut blow.”

Boseman was elevated to a stage that many Black actors don’t get the chance to occupy, said Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.