Luke Cage is one of my favorite heroes and has been for a long time. The Netflix show was great and it allowed a lot of new people to see Luke Cage for the first time and form opinions of the character.While most people liked Luke there were others who didn't and that was okay. The problem stems from black people who christen themselves as "woke" and say things like "Luke Cage is a hero white people would like because he's just a bulletproof nigga," or "Luke Cage is just a criminal how all white people see black people." Those statements are already pretty stupid, but the level of annoyance in them is compounded by the fact that these people don't know Luke Cage.
To think that Luke is just some brainless thug would be silly. If we look at the TV show he was a police officer who was framed for a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. However, he's shown time and time again to be one of the most well read characters, not just in his own show, but in the Marvel Universe as a whole. This carries over to the comics as well where Luke can often be seen reading in his free time. In the comics he was a criminal, however when he was sent to jail it was for a crime he hadn't committed. As a hero Luke has proved time and time to be a valued strategist, not just as leader of Heroes for Hire, but as a leader of The Avengers. During The Skrull Invasion, Luke played a key role and repelling the Skrull from Earth leading The New Avengers after the death of Steve Rogers.
On top of that Luke Cage is considered to be the grandfather of black heroes. The reason for that is because he was one of the earliest black heroes in a mainstream publication. But beyond, reality, even in the world of Marvel comics he's seen as a hero to many. Recently in the 2016 Spider-Man run starring Miles Morales the two had a meeting. Jessica Jones thought Luke wouldn't be popular but to her surprise Miles not only knew who Luke was but considered him a role model because Miles' father considered Luke one of the only respectable heroes. Luke also created the Mighty Avengers, a team consisting of mostly black heroes who were willing to follow Luke. On one occasion Luke had to explain to Sam Wilson that he needed to use his new role as Captain America to do more for the black community, and Sam listened. This is big because when it comes to black heroes in Marvel, the big four are Luke, Sam, T'Challa and Storm. This moment solidified Luke at the top of this totem pole.
It's not Luke just talks a big game either. If you've read the 2016 series Power Man and Iron Fist you'll see that Luke and Danny are currently working to clear the names of wrongly convicted minorities. While doing all this he's also balancing trying to rebuild Harlem and give jobs to unemployed former criminals. But, people would willingly have you believe that Luke is some dumb, bulletproof nigga that does the white man's bidding, all because it fits their narrative. But these people don't know Luke.
In the movie Black Dynamite there's a scene where Black Dynamite is accused of being a pawn to the white man and an Uncle Tom. The accusation comes from a militant black man who claims Black Dynamite isn't really down for black people because he's not marching and protesting with the rest of them. Meanwhile, we as viewers have seen Black Dynamite shut down the drug trade in black neighborhoods, run an orphanage, dismantle a gang and take on crooked police. The quote is:
Listen sucka, I'm blacker than the ace of spades and more militant than you and your whole damn army put together. While you out there, chanting at rallies and brow-beating politicians, I'm taking out any money-fronting sucka on a humble that gets in my way. So I tell you what, when your so called revolution starts, you call me, and I'll be right down front showing you how it's done. But until then, you need to SHUT the FUCK UP when grown folks is talking.I feel like that quote defines Luke Cage. I say that because all of these "woke" people are quick to put labels on him and try to make sure other people can't enjoy the character. These people never take the time to actually learn anything about Luke and try to bend his history to fit their narrative. We can even go back to look at Luke when he first got out of prison in the comics, and he spoke in rhyme. Luke is one of the few characters in comics that is constantly evolving and never back tracks. He's gone from bell bottoms to suits and ties. He didn't like that people thought he was dumb so he learned to code switch. Yet, all of these people were so busy being "woke" they slept on the fact that Luke has spent the better part of 20 years speaking on black issues in comics when writers would dread having a character do so. Sure, we've got Sam Wilson taking on police brutality now, and T'Challa is talking about drugs but way back years ago there were two characters that spoke on issues facing black people; Black Lightning in DC, and Luke Cage. So please, think again before you decided stepping on Luke Cage is going to be your way to wake people up.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs or Skyrim
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