The idea for this poetry collection came to me the night I heard of Chadwick Boseman’s passing.

 

I grew up reading fantasy and science fiction books. I would read through my classes, which annoyed my teachers to no end, but I rarely noticed because I was flying on the backs of dragons and moving objects with my mind.

 

Later, I would become entranced by the Marvel universe and its imaginative view of life. I spent most weekends in the movie theater with my parents, gazing up in awe.

 

Yet, there was always something missing; there was no one who looked like me or had experiences like my own. Your eyes can only see so far.

 

Then, along came Black Panther. I will never be able to put into words what it felt like sitting in that theatre, seeing myself reflected on screen. Black Panther was my first true superhero, my awakening, my love.

 

Black Panther was the movie I needed as a young Black child who loved superhero movies. Chadwick was able to breathe life into a character that represented the many Black heroes that I and many others saw in their everyday lives.

 

And so, Chadwick’s sudden passing was a crushing blow. After a summer of Black Lives Matter protests amidst a pandemic, it felt like a cruel and twisted joke.

 

I could not fathom why Black Panther, our Black superhero, died when he was supposed to be saving us. He was supposed to be out there, collecting the Black Tears that filled America’s streets.

 

This poetry collection was a way for me to drift away from the often turbulent reality of this world and jump into a new one. One where magic, and powers, and humanity shine.

 

So, in a sense, this poetry collection is an ode to him. The collection even starts with the poem Home, which begins in the same way as the movie Black Panther. A simple conversation between parent and child. Yet, this is where the stories diverge.

 

The collection follows a Black Woman heroine. We join her as she goes on adventures, encounters setbacks, and grows into herself.

 

I am not the first to write a story such as this, and I won’t be the last. Yet, we are nowhere near finished. There needs to be more characters that represent the rich diversity that exists in our world because to see is to believe.

 

I wanted my main character to embody what it means to be hopeful and angry at the same time. Distressed and joyful, concerned and carefree, happy and sad. To exist in a future that accepts her full humanity.

 

In the literal sense, ‘She’ was crafted a few years ago, as I began to take my first tentative steps into science fiction and afrofuturism, creating my own worlds in which I hoped to invite people into one day.

 

In the metaphorical sense, She has always been with me, tucked away for moments in which I need to be my own superhero.

 

But what does it mean to be a hero?

 

It’s a difficult question, you see?

 

I think the only way to answer it, is to first ask oneself, do heroes ever truly die?

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