“To be young, gifted and black… We know what it’s like to be told that there’s not a screen for you to be featured on.” This is a quote from the 2019 SAG Awards, and Chadwick Boseman, an extraordinary actor, producer, and director, knew how to use his platform correctly during an acceptance speech. Many awards that he accepted were followed by speeches about racial injustices, among other social issues, and he refused to keep his opinions silenced. While Marvel’s “Black Panther” was purely fiction, Boseman shared many heroic qualities with his counterpart King T’Challa offscreen.

Chadwick Aaron Boseman, born in 1976 in Anderson, South Carolina, was raised by his mother and father. His mother was a nurse, while his father worked at a textile factory and had also managed an upholstery business. In his junior year of high school, he wrote his first play after one of his friends was shot and killed. After this, he went on to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C., and graduated with his Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. Ultimately, his goal was to write and direct, and he initially started studying acting in an effort to relate to other actors.

Boseman made a name for himself on television, before the big screen, with guest roles on crime drama shows such as Third Watch and CSI: NY. In 2008, he landed a recurring role as Nathaniel Ray on Lincoln Heights, which jump started his acting career and paved the way for more roles to come his way. Guest roles are often where actors start out, in an effort to ‘test the waters’ and see if acting is truly for them. When asked about his early work and why he chose acting, Boseman states that, “I started out as a writer and director. I started acting because I wanted to know how to relate to the actors.”

Boseman was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and up until his death, he had continued to work and completed production for various films. His death came as a shock to many fans worldwide, a majority of which didn’t know anything about the battle that he had been facing for 4 years. Boseman was also known for being a versatile actor, starring in films of different genres. He played Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall”, “Stormin’ Norm” Holloway in “Da 5 Bloods” and Jackie Robinson in “42”. In many of the films that he appeared in, he was also listed as executive producer or co-producer.

Boseman also received many awards for his work, most of which being for his performances. He received a Best Actor award at the BET Awards, 2 different awards for Best Hero and Best Performance at the MTV Awards, as well as Outstanding Actor at the NAACP Image Awards, among other impressive awards. Boseman was an impressive actor who knew how to connect with the people around him, it was no surprise at the awards that he had received throughout his career.

Many actors and friends of Boseman had reached out via social media to express their love and adoration for the late actor. 

“What a man, and what an immense talent,” says Mark Ruffalo, who also starred in Avengers: Infinity War, as well as Avengers: Endgame. 

“This is a crushing blow,” gravely stated by actor/director Jordan Peele earlier this week. 

Chadwick Boseman was widely loved and appreciated for his work, and his “Wakanda Forever” salute continues to echo around the world for years after the “Black Panther” release.