{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.024260803639120546, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 4.877505567928731, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
More than just a homecoming: the reception of Black Panther in Kenya

As in other parts of Africa, Ryan Coogler’s movie Black Panther, starring a host of black stars, some born and raised in Africa, was a big hit in Kenya. As the movie continued to rake in millions soon after its premier, the hysteria surrounding Black Panther was visible through the number of social media trends, opinion articles, commentaries, and public discourses on the movie. A few creative Kenyans changed some of their Twitter profiles to include an affinity to Wakanda, that fictional country at the center of the Movie’s plot. Others cleverly added Wakanda as parts of their name. The hashtag #Wakandaforever became a site of many conversations around local imaginaries of black cosmopolitanism and a renewed sense of transnationalism. Rarely has a Hollywood movie evoked such significant public discourse in Kenya. While Marvel comics and the genre of superheroes have become mainstreamed in much of Africa, the superhero motif drawing from American-style superheroes tended to appeal to a comparatively more sophisticated public. However, there are a few contextual realities that made Black Panther summon intense public discourse in Kenya even long before it premiered. Most especially, the prominent role played by Lupita Nyong’o, an Academy Award-winning Hollywood Kenyan actress, and the fact that the film was to be premiered in the city of Kisumu, where Lupita’s father is the sitting Governor of the county of Kisumu, made the movie and the excitement around it nearly familial. The actual premiere was a sold-out event, with guests showing up not so much because of a renewed taste and preference for Hollywood movies, but most probably to catch a glimpse of Lupita Nyong’o, who media reports had indicated would grace the event. Since playing the role of Patsey, an enslaved and tortured black mistress in Twelve Years a Slave, Lupita’s trips to Kenya, if any, have been discreet and possibly far between. This time, there was a whole razzmatazz around the Kisumu premiere, with conspicuous media publicity. The fact that Kisumu residents would watch the movie first, ahead of the world, added punch and a unique news value to the event. The Kisumu County government sought to make the most of the occasion, highlighting it as a moment for Kisumu to glow in the limelight, and possibly market itself as a tourist destination. On the actual day, there were traditional Luo dances, a showcase of glamour from Kisumu’s mostly aspiring class in a forty-five minute invitation-only red-carpet event. Mr. Mathews Owilli, the deputy governor to Lupita’s