We lost Chadwick Boseman over the weekend. The loss hurts on so many levels.

 

Boseman was a native of the Carolinas, growing up in Anderson, SC and attending T.L. Hanna High School. His

mother was a nurse and his father worked for an agricultural conglomerate and had a side business as an upholsterer. He played basketball in high school, but he turned to theatre when he wrote a play about a classmate who was shot and killed.

He became one of the most sought-after actors of our generation, playing roles of a lifetime, time after time. And we learned on Saturday he did some of his most acclaimed work while battling colon cancer and related surgery and chemotherapy. The tweet on his personal twitter account announcing his passing and accompanied with a photo featuring his incomparable smile has become the most liked tweet of all time. He was, after all, a superhero.

We wrote about Boseman’s graduation speech at his beloved Howard University, in 2018. He was already battling cancer. His words were powerful then. They are even more powerful now.  He spoke of protest.  He spoke of stereotypes. He spoke of struggle, disappointment, and a cruel and unforgiving world. He spoke of failure and fight. He spoke of principle. He spoke of gratitude. He spoke of belief.  He spoke of purpose, passion and the path to destiny. Words for that time. Words for this time. Words for all time.

Chadwick Boseman Forever.

(His speech begins at 6:56)