Arts Paper | Arts Council of Greater New Haven

Welcome To Wakanda

Written by New Haven Independent | Feb 19, 2018 5:51:00 PM

There is so much I want to tell you about my recent trip to the world of Wakanda ... or rather a special Saturday showing and celebration in New Haven of the highly anticipated new film Black Panther.

But I can’t. No spoilers allowed during Black History Month. (All bets are off if you don’t see it before March 1.)

I will, however, tell you about how we moviegoers showed up to the Criterion Bowtie Cinemas dressed in our finest Ankara prints and dashikis for a 10 a.m. private screening of the hit movie that transformed 86 Temple St. into Wakanda for a few hours.

The event, billed as “Shit Bougie Black People Like,” was organized by WNHH FM’s own “Werk It Out” radio host Mercy A. Quaye, Jennifer Quay Hudson, and Paul Bryant Hudson. The hosts made sure that there was no ashy skin or unmoisturized hair in Wakanda — a feat to be sure during winter in New England — thanks to special goodie bags filled with staples like the ubiquitous (at least for black Americans without easy access to cocoa or shea butter) petroleum jelly...continue reading at the New Haven Independent