Chadwick Boseman’s ‘Black Panther’ Sister Letitia Wright Shares Tender Video Tribute With Rare Footage in Honor of ‘Brother’

Letitia Wright is paying a beautiful tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, delivering a poem Tuesday to her Black Panther brother, who died Friday after a years-long private battle with cancer. Wright shared a video on Instagram with personal videos from her time with Boseman, whom she referred to as “my brother, an angel on Earth,” from their time filming the 2018 superhero film, in which she played Shuri, the little sister of Boseman’s T’Challa.

“Words can’t describe how I feel,” Wright said amid nature imagery and photos with her co-star. “How we all feel, that losing you was forced upon us, to accept this as a new reality. I wish I got to say goodbye.” Wright continued that she attributed unanswered messages from Boseman during his final days to a busy schedule, saying, “I didn’t know you were dealing with so much. But against all the odds, you remained focused on fulfilling your purpose with the time handed to you.”

“God told me that you are my brother and that I am to love you as such. And I always did, and I always will,” she continued. “But now, my heart is broken, searching for old message of exchange, cards filled with your handwriting and memories of you holding my hand as if it was for eternity. I thought we had more time, and many more years to come, for more laughter and for more moments of me picking on you on set.”

When news first broke that Boseman had passed, Wright wrote simply on Twitter, “This hurts. Really hurts.” Boseman kept his colon cancer battle private, with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler admitting Sunday that not even he knew about his starring actor’s illness. “After his family released their statement, I realized that he was living with his illness the entire time I knew him,” Coogler said. “It’s no secret to me now how he was able to skillfully portray some of our most notable ones. I had no doubt that he would live on and continue to bless us with more. But it is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now. And I know that he will watch over us until we meet again.”