Black Panther was the first black superhero to appear in mainstream American comics, introduced in 1966 in an issue of The Fantastic Four. A couple of decades later, a young Ta-Nehisi Coates found escape from the often bleak reality of West Baltimore, immersing himself in the stories of superheroes and finding early influence for his future writing career. Fast forward to 2016, with Ta-Nehisi pairing up with vaunted illustrator Brian Stelfreeze to usher in a new era for the Marvel character. His story A Nation Under Our Feet was nominated for a Hugo award for Best Graphic Story.

February 18-25, 2019

Our activities in this Black Panther unit will be organized as follows (in this order):

Monday, February 18

A. Read the Black Panther graphic novel A Nation Under Our Feet, Volume 1.

B. Watch the following introductory videos:

• Black Panther Intro (2 minutes)
• Issue #1 (2 minutes)
  
• Issue #2 (2 minutes)
• Issue #3 (2 minutes)
• Issue #4 (2 minutes)
• Black Panther/Wakanda Explained (YouTube—13 minutes)

Wednesday, February 20

C. Read the Black Panther graphic novel A Nation Under Our Feet, Volume 2.

D. Watch the following introductory videos :

• Issue #5 (2 minutes)
  
• Issue #6 (2 minutes)
• Issue #7 (2 minutes)
• Issue #8 (2 minutes)
• History of Black Panther (YouTube)

Friday, February 22

E. Read the Black Panther graphic novel A Nation Under Our Feet, Volume 3.

F. Watch the following introductory videos :

• Issue #9 (2 minutes)
  
• Issue #10 (2 minutes)
• Issue #11 (2 minutes)
• 10 Facts About Black Panther (2 minutes)
• History of Wakanda (YouTube)

Monday, February 25

G. Post your BLOG entry on the graphic novel and the short videos. Watch my new video (23 minutes). Prompt Link: Post #4

Wednesday, February 27

H. Watch the Black Panther film
and respond to your blogmates’ blog entries.

CLASS LINKS

• My Video on A Nation Under Our Feet
• Map of Wakanda
• Summary of Books 1-3 by Marvel Comics
• “Once When I was Tree“
• (class website)

External Links:

• Black Panther (Wikipedia)
• Conceptualizing the Black Panther
• On Writing Black Panther (YouTube)
• Q&A With Author Ta-Nehisi Coates (YouTube: part 1; part 2)
• Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Merits a Place On Political Bookshelves
• The Ambiguous Heroism of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Black Panther
• Superhero Comics Have a Race Problem. Can Ta-Nehisi Coates Fix It?
• Coates on Hahn’s A Nation Under Our Feet
• Storm and Black Panther
• Storm (Wikipedia)
• Storm Explained (YouTube)
• Doctor Doom’s War with Wakanda
• Thanos vs Black Panther
• Erik Killmonger Explained (YouTube)
• Marvel Knights Animation – Black Panther – Episode 1
• Between the World and Wakanda: Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze’s “Black Panther”
• The Black Panther, At Odds With Himself And His Country In ‘A Nation Under Our Feet’
• Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book One: EW review
• Book 1 Summary & Study Guide Description: Book 1 • Book 2 • Book 3
• John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government

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