6 Pillars of Abundant Self-Respect that Made Black Panther an EPIC Success and How it is Helping My Students and I to Improve School Culture

Please note: I have tried to avoid any spoilers wtbs:

Wakanda Forever! This may have been a line in a movie, but it is also a true statement. Wakanda will never die for Marvel fans! There has never been another character like Black Panther nor a place so majestic as Wakanda. What I hope we will never forget is the integrity and leadership that was shown by the people of Wakanda. The unique royalty and superior character displayed by the Wakandans came from within. It allowed them the wisdom to harbor great knowledge and power with great responsibility. The good news is that the same can be found and developed in each one of us. It is abundant self-respect.

The 6 Pillars of Self-Respect can be easily recalled by the acronym BE EPIC:

These pillars guided T'Challa and his tribes every step of the way.

Be yourself:
Wakandans showed such abundant self-respect for their culture that it was the final authority on how they treated others.

Experience your emotions:
Emotions weren't often suppressed within Wakanda. T'challa allowed his emotions to heal him and teach him to be a better king.

Embrace Failure:
T'challa never identified himself as a failure no matter the circumstance. Success in Wakanda was not predicated upon perfection but upon principles, integrity, and learning from mistakes. This strength was expressed and evident in everything that Black Panther and his tribe set out to accomplish.

Pause for play: T'Challa and his sister, Shuri, brought much comedic relief to each other, balancing out the great responsibilities that rested upon him as Blank Panther and king.

Incorporate your flaws: Shuri was accused of abandoning tradition because of her youth but it was this "flaw" that was truly her superpower. She incorporated her youth into her creations and it set her work apart from the world's lack of imagination, allowing her to create what others never thought possible.

Cancel all comparisons: The world misjudged Wakanda and it's people. In comparison, they thought themselves to be superior to Wakanda but their data was incomplete.

The point is that abundant self-respect is a major compass on how to treat yourself and other people. I have learned from working as a life-coach and substitute teacher that, when you have abundant self-respect the world around you benefits from your overflow. I found that I always treated my students with respect even when they withheld theirs from me. It didn't take long to turn that around but I learned so much from the experience. I began looking for a way to teach my students how to do the same and it resulted in these 6 pillars of self-respect and the BE EPIC acronym. My students loved the 6 pillars of abundant self-respect so much that they encouraged me to share it with the world and even assigned me the title the BE EPIC Coach and have joined in helping to spread the BE EPIC Culture worldwide. I have found this abundance of self-respect to be effective in curtailing bullying between peers and disrespect between students and staff.

I have been so emersed in this that I couldn't help but notice all the pillars were present in King T'Challa and Wakanda and guided them on their path. These same pillars are available to each of us. We can build a culture of abundant self-respect, one person at a time. It will change our hearts, our homes, and our schools because when you have abundant self-respect, it causes you to treat people according to who you are rather than according to who they are, this will invite them to rise up to a better version of themselves.

BE EPIC. Spread the culture! The BE EPIC Coach Latavia Renae

ps Wakanda forever!