Posted in: Movies | Tagged: black panther, hero nation, jermaine dickerson

Hero Nation Raises Over $8000 For Black Panther Screening For Black Youth

Published Sun, 07 Jan 2018 15:19:32 -0600

Jermaine Dickerson is the founder of the Hero Nation comic convention, self-described as a "family-friendly comic convention that celebrates superheroes and diversity, with the mission that everyone has a hero inside of themselves that deserves to be celebrated." The convention's goal is to "amplify the voices of marginalized and underrepresented people—including people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities and women."

But Dickerson hasn't stopped there. He created a fundraiser on YouCaring in an attempt to raise $3,000 to provide free screenings of the upcoming Marvel Studios film Black Panther for Black youth from low-income households. From the fundraising page:

Hero Nation needs your support to fund a FREE special screening of Marvel's Black Panther for Black youth in Ypsilanti, MI, on February 16 at 10AM. Many of these youth stem from low-income households and aren't often afforded opportunities such as this. We feel moved to eliminate these financial barriers and make this experience accessible for everyone.

Marvel's Black Panther is anticipated to be a revolutionary film that will have a lasting impact on Black youth around the world who rarely see empowering examples of Black superheroes within the confines of African cultures.

Our objective is to make this screening a memorable experience for all attendees. Each donation will serve as a sponsorship for over 100 youth and will pay for the following:

Tickets
Administrative fees
Concessions
A special gift for each student

And the campaign has been a resounding success. At $8,865 raised with 4 days to go, the campaign has more than doubled its original goal. That's okay though because plans are already in place to spend any extra monies donated:

Any additional funding will go towards other Hero Nation programs and events like:

Next year's comic-con. This event will have the following:
FREE admission
FREE toys for youth
FREE comic books
FREE food for all attendees
FREE workshops
FREE inclusive video game tournaments for low-income youth
And more

Black Panther hits theaters on February 16. To contribute to the campaign, head over to the YouCaring page. You can learn more about Hero Nation at their website.