Rappers Eminem and Big Sean joined with ESPN’s Jemele Hill to help send 900 kids to see Marvel Studios‘ Black Panther.
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Hill, a sports journalist and Detroit native, announced her plans to send Detroit students to the blockbuster earlier this month. The initiative was aimed at students with perfect attendance records.
The Detroit Free Press and NFL team the Detroit Lions joined Hill in her efforts as she enlisted the rappers and former NBA players Chris Webber and Jalen Rose.
Rochelle Riley reports the rappers and Rose are teaming with the Free Press, the Lions, and the Ford Fund to bring 900 students on the trip planned for February 28, including the more than 200 students yet to miss a day of school this year.
The children will fill Michigan’s Emagine Royal Oak Theater, which boasts luxury and stadium seating.
The outing inspired the hashtags #BlackPantherFieldTrip and #DetroitSeesBlackPanther.
Hill said she “left that movie feeling so inspired.”
“And one of the many things that the ‘Black Panther‘ movie is about is hope. That’s the most important thing we can give children.”
“I know, having grown up in Detroit, that there is sometimes a shortage of that there,” she added. “Kids need to be inspired. This movie is meant to show them that they can move mountains. It’s almost meant to show them that your lot in life does not have to be determined by where you come from. I just connected with it on such a great level. Every child deserves to see this movie.”
Rapper Travis Scott bought out two Texas movie theaters Saturday for kids to see the film, which is making waves for its historic opening weekend numbers.
The 18th consecutive Marvel Studios production to open at #1, and the studios’ first to feature a Black lead and predominantly Black cast, Black Panther has already earned nearly $400 million worldwide.
Rapper and actor T.I., part of the Marvel family for his role as small-time criminal Dave in the Ant-Man franchise, teamed up with Walmart for a free Black Panther screening held last week in Atlanta.
Wimbledon winner Serena Williams and Top Dawg Entertainment also helped young fans and their families see Black Panther, partnering with theaters for their own separate screenings.
Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer pledged to buy out a Mississippi theater “in an underserved community there to ensure that all our brown children can see themselves as a superhero.”
Black Panther is now playing.
