Week 11 Journal

October 29th, 2020: Classwork

Today in class we had a guest speaker for the first time all semester. I enjoy having guest speakers in class because we can get a one on one session. It’s cool when someone who is “famous” for what they do takes time out of their day to come to your class and talk to you. Today’s guest speaker was Ms. Malliron Hodge. Malliron Hodge is the CEO of the Baddies with a Business Podcast.

“Baddies w/ Business showcases stories of Black women’s entrepreneurial journey. Each week I chat with a Baddie, specifically targeting businesses between 0–5 years, to learn about their unique story, get real about challenges, and share advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. A baddie, as defined by me in this context, is a Black woman that is intentional and passionate about her craft. She is cognizant of what she wants, goes after it, and persists amid the trials and tribulations that come her way. NO, she is not superwoman! She is a woman that has ebbs and flows through SUPER situations and makes it out with new learnings and lessons. She does not always smile, because there is not always a smile to give.” I enjoyed the concept of this podcast because every single podcast is different. The “baddies” being interviewed always have an amazing story to share. I gave one episode of the podcast a listen after class and I was pleasantly surprised because I don’t usually enjoy podcasts.

It was so empowering to see a strong black female running her own business. Women are usually not taken seriously in the business field. She felt like she had to work ten times harder to prove herself to everyone. It’s sad that in this day and age black women still need to prove themselves. She talked about how she overworked herself to produce a ton of podcasts in a short amount of time which can be extremely damaging for a person’s mental health. She learned that she needed to give herself a set break just to regroup.

The idea of balance also came up because you need to give yourself enough time to complete your work. I can put this idea of balance into my own life because I have so many things going on. I have to be able to put enough time aside for my work, and also social life. In this day and age of corona, it’s extremely hard to have physical interactions with my friends. Being at home from college has changed my outlook on life, and how much I took life for granted. Now it feels like I am always home, so my balance of school has gotten a lot better since highschool.

At the end of class, we talked about the last classes of the semester. It’s kind of crazy to me that we are already talking about the end of the semester and our final project. It felt like the semester flew right by, but this class has helped me improve my leadership skills.

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November 2nd, 2020: Homework

Envisioning the Future: The Black Panther

1. What leadership behaviors does each character show? What behaviors, if any, does each character seem unable to show? Why do you believe this? Consider specifically each character’s identity as an insider and an outsider and how this impacts their leadership.

I think it’s very interesting to look at all the characters in Black Panther separately because all though they are part of one collective tribe and are insiders to this, they still act completely different from each other. They are all successful leaders and are able to stay true to themselves and the traditions of Wakanda.

Key Discussions and Passages:

Scene One: N’Jadaka asks his father to tell him a story of home (=history of Wakanda)

1. Elder telling history of community that you belong to
2. Vibranium importance; holds power
3. Rendering potential leadership (inside position)
4. Permanent outsider (Kilomanger)
5. Disconnection with emotional bonds (no gratitude)
6. Bonding for his own good
7. Temporary friendship
8. Civilizing element on the monarchy
9. Question if the best form of government is monarchy?

Scene Two: The Women of Wakanda Who Inform T’Challa Leadership

1. Controlling strong romantic feelings
2. Hold emotions in check
3. Contradiction
4. Women push T’Challa and activate his full humanity
5. “I am Moana” moment
6. Breaking the tension vs. being extremely serious
7. Independent judgement
8. Being an insider and an outsider at the same time
9. Deeply connected
10. Fleshing out his character

Scene Three: T’Challa meets his father on the ancestral plane and wrestles with whether he’s trying to be King of Wakanda

1. Distancing himself from his father
2. Using your own independent judgement
3. Completely 180 with his feelings
4. Feeling of reverence, gratitude, difference
5. Becoming more critical from his father because he doesn’t want to be the same leader as his father

Scene Four: T’Challa confronts T’Chaka for abandoning N’Jadaka (Kilomonger)

1. Mental activation
2. “A monster of our own making”
3. Tears of outrage and betrayal
4. Reflecting on everything he’s been through
5. Not breaking traditions, just broadening his outlook
6. Being critical of your mentors

Scene Five: The Death of N’Jadaka (Kilomonger)

1. Father and son relationship importance
2. Paving the way
3. Coming across a psychopath but that’s not who he really is
4. Life is like a fairytale

November 2nd, 2020: Classwork

I came to class a little late on Tuesday because I voted! Voting for the first time was a hugely liberating experience because it felt like I was making a difference for my country. Seeing as how this was the first election voting in, my mom and I went into the booth together to make sure I was filling everything out correctly. My mom is a huge picture taker; she made sure to snap a picture after every single thing I did. I loved getting the “I voted!” sticker because, for me, the sticker makes it “official.” Although it is not the first time I’ve watched the Black Panther, I decided to rewatch the movie because I wanted to spot clear scenes that portrayed leadership. Watching the movie and having the task of looking out for the leadership qualities in all of the characters added an extra element to the movie.

It was interesting to compare Black Panther and Moana because those are two movies that I would have never even thought about finding similarities. It was interesting to see T’Challa have his “I am Moana moment” because in his insider role there are a lot of rules that need to be followed. Wakanda is a place full of rules and traditions, which makes T’Challa an insider while also being an outsider to his community. He knows that he will always be eligible to be king of Wakanda because of his father’s status but he didn’t want to be anything like the ruler that his father was. T’Challa has praotes throughout the whole movie because he’s able to break away from tradition while still being an amazing leader.

Women play an important role in this movie. Ramonda, Nakia, Okoye, and Shuri are essential characters to the plot of the story because they add an extra sense of powerful leadership. Women are not usually portrayed as leaders in most popular movies; they are always the sidekick to the men. In Black Panther, we are not only seeing women praised for being leaders but African American women. Black Panther has given black women a platform for the leadership community and has accepted them for all of the knowledge that they can provide. Often the women know more than T’Challa and can guide him through the problems that he’s having.

Dehumanization also plays a huge role in leadership even though it’s a negative trait. Dehumanization takes away the potential for someone to be better. When someone is constantly telling you that you’re not capable, it starts to become true to you. Kilomanger is a perfect example of dehumanization. Being called KILLomanger puts an impression on you that you’re aggressive and mean spirited. Since a young age, he has been put on the backburner which is why he has grown up wanting so much power. He wants to take the leadership spot away from T’Challa to prove to the community that he is worthy enough. An interesting question was, “Why doesn’t T’Challa offer KillMonger to co-rule with him?”. I think that he doesn’t ask him to co-rule with him because he would end up taking over the entire thing. Kilomanger is so power-hungry that he wouldn’t be able to share that position. Dehumanization happens in both Normal Heart and Black Panther. It’s interesting to connect the two and how there are two people “fighting” for the top spot. Both of their personalities make it hard for them to share that type of leadership position.

It was interesting to think about how most Disney movies portray a monarchy instead of a democracy. There is always a top person in charge of ruling over everyone, and everyone else follows. These types of movies always have a family status where tradition needs to be followed. Breaking out of these traditions to stay true to yourself is a lesson that usually comes out of these movies because as a leader, you need to do what you think is right for the collective. Following tradition isn’t always the best way to lead. Sometimes you need to break away and do what’s best for everyone. Creating new traditions is a theme throughout these movies.

Another question that you asked was, “Is Wakanda your ideal world?”. Personally, although Wakanda feels like a great place to live, it’s not the world I would ideally like to live in. In my family, we do have a lot of traditions but in Wakanda, these traditions are more like rules. I don’t think I would ever be able to follow so many rules like the people of Wakanda do.