Giselle Hidalgo's Culture Jam Blog

This new version of the ad contains a message that speaks out against oppression of people of colour in a way that is appropriate for children. Prince T’Challa is a character created by Marvel Comics that has had a great success with its recent movie by Marvel Studios, The Black Panther. This also references the political movement that took place during the civil rights era that strived to promote black rights.

In addition, the character of T’Challa gives children someone to look up to as he represents compassion, justice, respect, love, and bravery. T’Challa comes from a fictional African nation, Wakanada, which has been untouched by colonization and thrives above all nations. This creates an argument for the way in which colonization, and not culture or the people themselves, is responsible for the status of impoverishment in many African countries. Although the model from this photo is probably not African, the world continues to make that correlation because of the colour of his skin. However, Attaching T’Challa’s name will at least shift the perception of many people and bring a new meaning to being associated with that historical and cultural context.

In choosing to combine T’Challa’s character in The Black Panther as well as in incorporating the black fist, the hoodie is now a symbol of a resistance movement that can be accessible to children as well. In this way, children of colour can become conscious that the way the world perceives them is a fallacy and that they must not adhere or submissively accept this. This stops their dehumanization and their social Darwinist comparison to the wild. Instead, it creates a form of inspiration, empowerment, and resistance through T’Challa’s principles of love, compassion, and respect.