After theater buyouts for kids to see ‘Black Panther,’ group organizes one for Black girls to see ‘A Wrinkle In Time’
Marvel’s Black Panther is already a huge hit and the movie hasn’t even opened for the public yet. Those who have seen the movie have been singing its praises, and the movie has been lauded in nearly every review as “groundbreaking” and “something we have never seen before,” garnering a 97% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Of course, hidden in those reviews is an acknowledgment that Hollywood has never made, created, or otherwise invested in a blockbuster that is this Black, this star-studded, and this large in scope. Historically, a film like Black Panther doesn’t even have a parallel (sorry Blade fans, but come on. Blade was never pushed like this).
Assisting in this wave of support and excitement surrounding the film are mass buyouts of theaters across the country. Everywhere from Texas to the tip of New York State, individuals, businesses or even schools are buying out showings of Black Panther that target Black children specifically. It is not just luminaries such as Octavia Spencer who are buying out movie theaters—there is also a much more grassroots kind of effort that requires crowdsourcing funds—and it is not just Black Panther which is receiving the boon of these endeavors.
Black Youth Project‘s Deputy Editor, Sherronda J. Brown and a group of Black women/non-men activists Leslie Mac, Asia Renee, Dani Sanchez, Jasmine Whittaker, Kirsten, Roni Dean-Burren, and Stephanie Beal have undertaken the task of creating a challenge centered around the release of Ava DuVernay’s newest feature film, A Wrinkle In Time. Aptly titled #AWITChallenge, this effort seeks to unite Black Women and non-men through community engagement. Sisters in the Storm, the collective group of Black women and non-men behind this initiative, seeks to galvanize support for DuVernay’s film in much the same way that the collective “Black Community” has galvanized support for Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther.
Though the effort is only targeting eight U.S. cities at present, there is tremendous potential for this initiative and others like it to create a tidal wave of support for A Wrinkle in Time, and the little Black girls and non-men who need it the most. As Brown writes in the group’s Medium piece:
I want Black girls to see their Blackness as something to be admired, celebrated, and valued, and I want Black girls interested in STEM not to feel that their Blackness is a barrier to their dreams. I want them to know that they should never have to quiet their storm for the comfort of others. They are not too much for the world and the light they carry has the power to lead many out of darkness.
For Stormiyah and every #RealMeg in our anti-Black world, we want to give the gift of A Wrinkle in Time to as many Black children as we can, and we will center Black girls and other non-boys in this work. Please join us in the A Wrinkle In Time Challenge as we raise funds to purchase full theaters in eight U.S. cities so that we can fill the seats with Black girls and non-boys to experience this important film together. #AWITChallenge
You can support these important efforts here!
But the film is not about blackness. Its proapganda. The GIRL IN THE FILM DAD IS WHITE. UNLESS her mother is Hispanic than that mean she would be black. Its not anything like black panther.