Chadwick Boseman, best known for his role as Marvel’s Black Panther, recently passed away of cancer, but there was so much more about his life that few ever knew until his friends and family began to speak out.
Now, in an interview with The New York Times, his family is speaking out about the aspects of his personal life that they loved most about him. Though many may have known Boseman grew up in Anderson, South Carolina, few may have known he always had his sights set on something more than the tight-knit community of 20,000.
According to his two older brothers, Chadwick was very talented, so becoming an actor just seemed to make a lot of sense. It wasn’t that Chadwick hated where he grew up, he just knew where he could use his talents. “He’s probably the most gifted person I’ve ever met,” his older brother Derick Boseman, a pastor at New Covenant Baptist Church in Murfreesburo, Tennessee, said. “Him being born there is an inspiration that you can come from there and become anything.”
Chadwick’s other older brother, Kevin, who is also an actor, writer, and dancer, said of his younger brother “I just knew that if Chad wanted to work in the arts, he would find a way and take care of himself.”
But Christianity was central to his childhood and career. Chadwick attended church regularly. He also bought hundreds of tickets for needy children so they could watch his movie. Additionally, he founded his own charity that was very active, and, when he was a kid, he sang in the church choir with his brothers. CBN News reports Chadwick even cited Scripture when he gave a commencement address at his Alma Mater, Howard University, in 2018.
Chadwick Boseman died of cancer on September 3, 2020. In the days leading up to his death, his brother Derrick was speaking with him and he told him, “Man, I’m in the fourth quarter, and I need you to get me out of the game.” Then, his brother recounted, “When he told me that, I changed my prayer from, ‘God heal him, God save him,’ to ‘God, let your will be done.’ And the next day he passed away.”
Related:
Chadwick Boseman Was a Christian Who Quoted Scripture, Told Students ‘God Predestined’ Their Future
Photo courtesy: (C)Getty Images/Emma McIntyre/Staff
John Paluska has been a contributor for Christian Headlines since 2016 and is the founder of The Daily Fodder, a news outlet he relaunched in 2019 as a response to the constant distribution of fake news.
