Marvel’s big screen adaptation of Black Panther has surpassed all initial expectations of its debut, and, if anything, the success of the film, along with last year's Girls Trip, has proven to the world that representation and inclusion is profitable.

The excitement from the crowd radiated into the lobby of my screening.

The joy I inhaled while standing in line to enter the theatre took me higher than a preacher’s sermon.

The drums and opening verse to Kendrick Lamar’s "Black Panther" rung in my head.

King of my city, king of my country, king of my homeland

King of the filthy, king of the fallen, we livin' again

King of the shooters, looters, boosters and ghettos poppin'

King of the past, present, future, my ancestors watchin'

I loved the film, but lest we remember …

Wakanda is a figment of imagination. More accurately, Wakanda is a creation of white imagination. Erik Killmonger is OUR reality.

A fictional Wakanda is convenient to the consciousness of the colonizer. A fictional African utopia lightens the weight of oppression by scapegoating black excellence. It then places the responsibility of reconciliation on the backs of the oppressed.

Champions of truth must embrace painful complicated truths, just as well as those of triumph.

Erik Killmonger represents an uncomfortable truth. He is Black Panther’s kryptonite. The pain of Killmonger’s reality defeats the idealistic Black Panther. The ultimate victory of Black Panther is only secured through a cinematic miracle. Even then, the Black Panther cannot find it in himself to end the life of Kilmonger; it is Kilmonger himself who yields his own life.

Centuries of resilience is no honor, it is simply survival.

Although we would all like for a Wakanda to exist, it most likely does not. The painful truth is that black people were forcefully dispersed throughout the globe; isolated from our blood right. The painful truth is that the campaign of carnage white people have lead throughout the globe cannot be reconciled through broad aid and well-intentioned community centers.

Partnership and collaboration, one of the many underlying themes of the film; excludes Eric Killmonger. The love between Okoye and W’Kabi ceased civil war. The collaboration between Shuri, technology and users is the lifeline of the nation. The cooperation of M’Baku and Ramonda brought hope back to life. And, the love between Nakia and the Black Panther is slated to save the world.

Kilmonger was not bestowed the privilege of partnership.

My limited knowledge of comic book adaptation films remembers popular super heroes like Superman and Wolverine contemplating difficult decisions. These decisions are most often a test of character or weight of priority. These films, set in city centers, often display massive property damaged and presumed loss of innocent life. However, the central internal conflict in Black Panther centered upon killing the radical pursuit of freedom.

Killmonger’s association of power and freedom is evident in his last line: “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from the ships, because they knew that it was better to be dead than in bondage.”

Eric Killmonger is white people’s villain. He is the status quo’s worst nightmare. Kilmonger is the rage of a billion people displaced, disregarded and discarded. The Black Panther is a fictional depiction of the moral consciousness of black people. He is the hope for both the oppressed and the oppressor. He is the grace of God to a people undeserving.

Mainstream dialogue on race relations in the United States naively suggests that white people simply refuse to acknowledge the crimes that have been committed. I would argue that they are fully aware of their crimes, but interpret them through a filtered lens of conquest. I would argue that white people’s conscious relegation of persons of color is deduced to collateral damage, necessary to maintain power, wealth and leadership.

As Killmonger fell to the floor, I ached for a Black Panther-Kilmonger partnership. The partnership of rage and compassion, of power and responsibility, of justice and reconciliation deserves exploration. Black Panther and Erik Killmonger is the dichotomous tight rope black folks must walk to freedom.

Erik Killmonger’s death is a figment of white people’s imagination. He lives, admittingly or not, in the hearts of black people across the globe.

All hail King Killmonger.