I Dream of Wakanda: Miseducation & the Wonder of an Africa We Are Never Shown

[quote_simple]“You’re going to Africa?” [/quote_simple] [quote_simple] “Be careful it’s really dirty there.” [/quote_simple] [quote_simple] “Be sure you don’t get eaten by a lion.” [/quote_simple] These were responses I heard when I told people I would be traveling to Gaborone, Botswana over my winter break for a service learning trip. Many were puzzled as to why I would travel over 8,000 miles across the Atlantic to immerse myself in a culture I never knew. Wasn’t the continent of Africa diseased, impoverished, and war-torn? It sounds like a terrible place. I heard misguided truths from people who were prejudiced. Even sentiments like “why not Europe?”, even though Brexit had just happened, let alone the rampant xenophobia. I knew exactly why people would say statements like that but they were still problematic. [quote_right]I didn’t know what to expect, but I do know that I long for it now that I’m back stateside.[/quote_right] People’s assumptions about the Motherland did not dissuade me. I wanted to learn more about public health and social entrepreneurship. I had Skyped with my University of Botswana classmates on issues surrounding global health. In those conversations, I had been was overwhelmed by a culture I did not know, a collectiveness I didn’t know and already felt welcomed with open arms. I knew that many people in the US had become invested in Africa due to the popularity of Marvel’s Black Panther film and the promise of an Afrofuturistic kingdom visualized. As…