Okoye to the People

December 15, 2021
In the latest Black Panther novel, Zoboi takes the reader to the U.S. with the Dora Milaje. Okoye, a Dora Milaje warrior and protector of Wakandan King T'Chaka, goes on a special diplomatic and humanitarian assignment, accompanying the king and Capt. Aneka to New York. King T'Chaka is invited as a guest of Stella Adams, a wealthy, powerful real estate mogul and leader of an organization called No Nation Left Behind. Though ostensibly friendly, Adams seems sinister, raising Okoye's alarm bells. Later Okoye meets councilwoman Lucinda Tate, who represents Brownsville, a district of Brooklyn whose population is primarily poor people of color. Tate warns her about Adams and invites King T'Chaka to the opening of the Brownsville community center. Infested with a drug called PyroBliss that is imported by Adams and NNLB, the Brownsville community is under constant assault after users take the drug and set fires that burn the community down, and gentrification pushes residents out. Okoye makes it her personal mission to help the young people in Brownsville rid their community of PyroBliss--and Adams. Multiple social problems plaguing Black and urban spaces are consolidated into this one blond villainess. Rather than being an action-packed superhero story, this novel explores problems rooted in inequities in race, power, and economics and forces readers to confront real and complex social constructs in a semi-imagined world. Thoughtfully takes on issues facing real Black communities. (Fiction. 12-18)

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February 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 Zoboi's exploration of Okoye and the Dora Milaje adds color to the popular Black Panther characters while highlighting the casualties of gentrification. Okoye has just joined the honored ranks of the Dora Milaje, and she is excited to represent her people while on a diplomatic mission to New York City. She expects opulence in New York and is surprised to come across poverty in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The more Okoye gets to know the teens who live in the neighborhood, the more similarities she sees between her people and the forgotten residents of Brownsville. When a real estate mogul introduces a dangerous new drug to destroy the area, Okoye joins the people and fights to save their community. In her compelling story, Zoboi effectively underlines the resilience of Black people and the ability to find joy in times of strife. While the drug that is introduced is fantastical, its side effects are rooted in reality. Fans of Marvel will appreciate this in-depth look at Okoye and the parallels Zoboi draws between Wakanda and the people of Brownsville, Brooklyn.High-Demand Backstory: The popularity of Black Panther in the hands of such a skilled, sharp writer as best-selling, award-winning Zoboi means this one's liable to fly off the shelf.

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