From Uranium to Vibranium -- ep. by Howard Rambsy II

A brief take on how Africa’s independence movements and leaders like Lumumba inspired the creation of Black Panther and Wakanda.

Script by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm

Transcript

You want to talk about monumental historical developments during the late 1950s and early 1960s? Then you have to consider what was happening on the continent of Africa. 

The rise of several charismatic leaders. Independence movements. Power struggles. Governmental agencies carrying out clandestine operations. Assassinations.   

And believe it or not, some of what happened in Africa inspired the creation of an extraordinary comic book character and nation.  

You’re listening to Remarkable Receptions—a podcast about popular and critical responses to African American novels and more.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, people in African countries began organizing for independence. They wanted to free themselves from the rule of European colonial powers. Most notably, in 1957, Ghana, in West Africa, secured independence. The country was led by the bold and visionary Kwame Nkrumah. 

Beyond urging only his own people forward, Nkrumah worked with other countries to secure independence from colonial rule. Among various alliances, Nkrumah worked with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country was led by Patrice Lumumba, who like Nkrumah, was intelligent and inspiring. 

Similarly, Lumumba’s devotion to independence prompted a powerful United States governmental agency, namely the Central Intelligence Agency, to view the young Congolese leader as a threat to American interests. What made the Congo particularly worrisome to the CIA was the abundance of the country’s uranium mines. Uranium was used to make atomic weapons, and there was the possibility – a fearful possibility for the CIA – that an independent Congo leader might befriend the Soviet Union, which was the Cold War enemy of the US. 

Eventually, CIA officials, along with officials from Belgium, the former colonial ruling country of the Congo, orchestrated the assassination of Lumumba in 1961. 

The demise of this wonderful African leader derailed progress in the Congo among other places. This critical political juncture also drew significant creative attention.

In addition to exacerbating tensions concerning the arms race between the US and Soviet Union, news about the importance of uranium in the Congo served as creative inspiration for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. These two comic book creators took the notion of prominent leaders like Nkrumah and Lumumba and resource-rich African nations to produce something special. Lee and Kirby created T’Challa or Black Panther, the leader of a fictive African country, Wakanda. 

 Wakanda, like the Congo, possessed an extraordinary element. Rather than call it uranium, they called the Wakandan mineral vibranium. 

 In short, the character T’Challa and the imagined nation of Wakanda constitute remarkable comic book responses to Patrice Lumumba and the Congo, respectively. 

******************************************
This episode was written by Howard Rambsy. The episode was edited by Elizabeth Cali.

******************************************
This podcast, Remarkable Receptions, is part of the Black Literature Network, a joint project from African American literary studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the History of Black Writing at the University of Kansas. The project was made possible by the generous support of the Mellon Foundation.  For more information, visit blacklitnetwork.org.