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'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' unsurprisingly dominates the box office and much more
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“REVOLT Black News Weekly” aired on Friday (Nov. 18) to discuss the 2022 midterm elections, distrust in the public school system, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever making history during its opening weekend. REVOLT Special Correspondent Rochelle Ritchie led the episode titled, “Gen Z and Mr. Frost Go to Washington; Black America’s Education Epidemic; The Gift of Chess.”
She was joined by rapper YelloPain; founder of Next Gen Come Up, Anya Dillard; director of diversity at the Indiana Republican Party of Indianapolis, Whitley Yates; special assistant to the president at Vassar College, Wesley Dixon; and business owner Jovani Patterson. REVOLT Entertainment Correspondent Kennedy Rue McCullough also brought viewers the latest in celebrity news, during which she interviewed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever cast member Dominique Thorne about her role in the iconic Marvel film.
Ritchie opened the show by discussing Maxwell Frost, the U.S. representative-elect of Florida’s 10th Congressional District, who made history on Nov. 8 by becoming the first member of Gen Z to be elected to Congress. Ritchie held a roundtable discussion with YelloPain and Dillard about the impact Frost’s victory will have on the nation. YelloPain believes his run for office will “start a ripple effect” and encourage young people to get into politics. “One thing that [Frost] was saying was that Gen Z and millennials, we make up one-third of the U.S. population, but we don’t even make up one-third of the government,” he recalled.
The young artist added, “It gives us a voice, and it gives us somebody that knows how to speak our language… one of the biggest reasons why we can’t get a big youth turnout is because nobody knows how to speak to the youth.” Dillard chimed in and stated that TikTok played a major role in Gen Z’s participation in the 2022 midterm elections. “[TikTok] became this huge network where young people could not only occupy themselves, but honestly, a lot of changemakers and people in the sociopolitical space that were our age started to use it as a really effective tool to mobilize young people,” she explained.
“I think that when it came to the midterm elections, we saw this at its umpteenth potential, and I think people like Maxwell were able to utilize that… to prove that young people do have a place in this arena,” Dillard continued.
Later in the show, McCullough hosted her “Entertainment Remix” segment, where she spotlighted Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which dominated the box office during its opening weekend and netted $330 million globally. McCullough sat down with Thorne, who played the role of Riri Williams, an engineering student who teamed up with the Wakandan army to protect the vibranium-rich country.
“This journey, this career is proving to be like something that I’ve dreamt about, and prayed about, and thought about like incessantly for so long,” Thorne expressed. The 25-year-old will soon star in her very own Marvel series titled “Ironheart,” which is set to be released on Disney+ in 2023. “I think it’ll be the ride of a lifetime,” said Thorne. “Seems like folks are sort of responding positively to what they’ve seen in Black Panther. So, hopefully, that’s encouragement enough to come over to Disney+.”
Watch a quick clip from this week’s episode up top. Plus, be sure to catch new installments of “REVOLT Black News Weekly” on REVOLT’s app.