A review by hannah_bierbaum
Why Wakanda Matters: What Black Panther Reveals About Psychology, Identity, and Communication by Sheena C. Howard

5.0

This book is the perfect marriage of the fictional world of Wakanda and our very real world of racial identity, colonialism, historical trauma, and representation in mass media. While I've seen all the Marvel Avengers films, none have the emotional depth of Black Panther and this book does an excellent job of not only expanding understanding of the film itself, but also helping readers make connections to real life in an effort to heal racial tensions and promote racial understanding. I truly felt that I came away with better understanding of psychology and communication concepts I was familiar with, but hadn't truly grasped until now (like cognitive dissonance, black excellence, and social identity). Though text itself was quite dense at times, I still found this book very accessible and I can easily see my high school students picking it up to take a deeper dive into one of their favorite fictional worlds while gaining a better understanding of our real world.