Reggae Vibe Magazine (Ras Mahddy) — In 2020 Reggae Music has lost two iconic figures Apple Gabriel, and Bob Andy. This year we’ve seen the earthly transition of three of the worlds most well known Black icons Kobe Bryant, Rep. John Lewis, and now, Chadwick Boseman.
So far, 2020 has been marred by bad news and tragedy, with the deaths of a number of famous black icons, including Bryant, Lewis and recently Boseman, who died on Friday August 28th, 2020. All three were seen as leaders in their respective fields of sports , politics and film — places where people, particularly in the Black community, often sought inspiration in a year of racial unrest and outrage against the abuse of unarmed Black people by the police.
But for many, the loss of another major figure, like Boseman, is taking a toll. The comedian, who appeared in the hit superhero Marvel movie “Black Panther,” died suddenly at the age of 43 in his home in Los Angeles after having fought colon cancer privately 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 U.S. 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.
