Many celebrities and public figures paid tribute to actor Chadwick Boseman, who passed away after a four year battle with cancer. Among them was former president Barack Obama, who shared his meeting with the late actor in the White House in a special tribute on social media.
Obama quote-retweeted a tweet from Boseman’s twitter account with a photo of the two during Boseman’s White House visit. The Black Panther actor was at the White House for a press tour of “42,” which was a biopic of baseball player Jackie Robinson. The former president recalled his experience meeting the actor in his tweet.
“Chadwick came to the White House to work with kids when he was playing Jackie Robinson. You could tell right away he was blessed. To be young, gifted, and Black; to use that power to give them heroes to look up to; to do it all while in pain — what a use of his years,” tweeted Obama.
Former first lady Michelle Obama also paid tribute to the late actor on Twitter with a photo of her own. “Only Chadwick could embody Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, and T’Challa. He, too, knew what it meant to persevere. To summon real strength. And he belongs right there with them as a hero — for Black kids and all of our kids. There’s no better gift to give our world,” tweeted Michelle.
Boseman’s fellow Marvel actors including producer Kevin Feige also paid tributes to him on twitter. The Black Panther actor privately dealt with his illness following his diagnosis in 2016.
Following the shooting of Jacob Blake, the latest Black man who was subject to police brutality, more prominent figures have chosen to speak out against the injustice. Among those figures included many NBA players who have opted to boycott playing until the police officers responsible were brought to justice. CNN reports that NBA president Chris Paul reached out to the former president if he could offer some advice to players who plan on using their platform for good.
According to those who are knowledgeable on the matter, LeBron James was also present during the discussion. They reportedly talked about establishing a social justice committee to make sure that the actions taken by the Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA were able to open the conversation on police reform as well as criminal justice.