Journey 
Chadwick Boseman, forever our Black Panther, was recently honored posthumously with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On Thursday afternoon, people gathered to celebrate the late actor’s achievements in the film industry and his social impact. His wife, Simone Ledward-Boseman, placed his well-worn dress shoes atop the golden star, delivering a heartfelt tribute to Chadwick Boseman, alongside the director of the widely adored Black Panther, Ryan Coogler, and Boseman’s costar on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Viola Davis.
According to Harper’s Bazaar, in an interview held by People, when Ledward-Boseman had been asked why she’d posed on the red carpet alongside her husband’s dress shoes, she’d answered that she’d thought the shoes were beautiful, and commonly worn by Boseman. That the shoes truly lived in, “They reminded me a lot of the things that he wore, a lot of different looks that he had, and I felt that they would be the best ones to bring today.”
Even through a screen and miles away, the emotion was beyond palpable; silence seemed to echo as each soul he touched recalled their memories and experiences with him, whether it was through the theatre screen, during production, or more immediately. You could almost grasp the impact he has bestowed upon both his family and his “work-family”.
Viola Davis, compared Boseman to a castle, saying he was mighty and stirred up “that alchemy we’re all in search of, which is meaning,” in her heartfelt speech, she detailed how she continues to celebrate his life, and thanks him for what he’d left behind for her, “which is a burning ember that always guides me to a higher meaning of my work and purpose.”
The world of culture suffered a grave loss on August 28, 2020, when Boseman’s family revealed he’d passed away from a silent battle with colon cancer. Boseman’s legacy is lasting, a soul you simply never forget and inimitable, not solely refined to films, but in the purpose and the lives he continues to inspire.
By Journey Powell, Senior, Spelman College
Instagram: journeyaliah
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