Black Panther Star Chadwick Bosemann says Appreciate What God has Brought you Through!

While several news outlets covered a recent address by Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, their headlines ignored his comments acknowledging God. And in an entertainment field that’s generally inimical to Christianity, that’s no minor feat.

On May 12, Boseman delivered the 2018 commencement speech at his alma mater, Howard University. During his remarks at the historically black college, he alluded to the Bible numerous times and told the Class of 2018 to “find purpose” that God has “predestined inside of you.”

Boseman began his speech by “first, giving honour to the Creator” as well as his “ancestors on whose shoulders I stand.” He added that the graduates should “savour the taste of your triumph,” and “appreciate what God has brought you through.”

Mid-speech, he pointed to a specific juncture in his own life where he relied on God. Earlier in his career, he said, he secured a soap opera gig on an extensive network that bid him six figures. But after reviewing the script, he found himself “conflicted” because it was “wrapped up in assumptions about us as black folk.” In response, he challenged producers while he tried “not to play this character like a victim.”

Black Panther Star Chadwick Bosemann says Appreciate What God has Brought you Through!

The very next day, he was “let go.” But Boseman said he was amenable to take the hit if it “paved the way” for future, better roles. He quoted the Bible, 1 Corinthians 3:6, to point up his struggle.

“As the Scripture says, I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God kept growing—God kept it growing,” Boseman said. “Yet and still, when you invest in a seed, watching it grow without you, that is a bitter pill to swallow.”

He wound up that “Sometimes you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God predestined inside of you.”