Multi-talented actress/singer and The Greatest Showman star Zendaya joined together with progressive activist and entrepreneur Michael Skolnik to take over 300 schoolchildren from her hometown of Oakland, Calif., to see a special screening of Black Panther.
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Zendaya is just the latest celebrity to put together a free screening of Black Panther for members of her community, following on the heels of GRAMMY winners Kendrick Lamar and Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who bought out five showings at three cinemas in Los Angeles so children living in the city's Watts housing projects could view the film during its opening weekend. Meanwhile, rapper/singer Travis Scott rented out two theaters in Stafford, Texas, so local kids could attend the movie for free.
Atlanta rappers Big Boi and T.I. were also onboard, with T.I. partnering with Walmart to give out 300 free tickets to a local Black Panther premiere screening, and Big Boi arranging for patients housed in hospice care to also see the film for free.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wakanda forever...Oakland forever. Thank you to all the beautiful young people of my home town for joining me this weekend. You all, much like this movie, are absolutely brilliant✨ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackPanther?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlackPanther</a> <a href="https://t.co/qsO09ZnQJX">pic.twitter.com/qsO09ZnQJX</a></p>— Zendaya (@Zendaya) <a href="https://twitter.com/Zendaya/status/968001446514868224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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For her own part, Zendaya has also promised on Twitter that she plans to set up additional free screenings for director Ava DuVernay's forthcoming adaptation of Madeline L'Engle's classic fantasy novel A Wrinkle In Time, set for release on Mar. 9. DuVernay has said she hopes her film will help spread a positive message amid a national sentiment of "darkness and division."
Black Panther's director Ryan Coogler has also released a statement in response to the overwhelmingly positive response the film has received, saying, "Never in a million years did we imagine that you all would come out this strong… For the people who bought out theaters, … And to the young ones, who came out with their parents, with their mentors, and with their friends…Thank you for giving our team of filmmakers the greatest gift: The opportunity to share this film, that we poured our hearts and souls into, with you."
