"A Different Way to Celebrate Black History”
Last week, staff members at Kingessing’s Francis J. Myers Recreation Center organized a screening of Marvel’s Black Panther movie for youth who attend recreation programs in the area.
Reflecting growing grassroots efforts across the nation to give children of color– particularly African-American children– the opportunity to see the movie for free or at a low cost, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation staffers decided to organize the event to celebrate Black History Month, and the Advisory Council at F.J. Myers covered the cost of tickets.
Program participants attended a private screening of Black Panther on February 16 at the Studio Movie Grill on 69th Street in Upper Darby. This event marked the end of a week entitled “My Super Hero is Black: Super Hero Week at Myers,” composed of activities intended to get the children excited to see the movie.
“When you see things that look like you, it makes you want to reach for bigger things,” said Folami Islam, Recreation Leader Trainee at F.J. Myers, who organized the superhero week. “It makes you want to be super. It makes you want to go out for things that you might not have tried before.”
During “My Super Hero is Black: Super Hero Week at Myers,” children in the after-school program were asked to design their own superhero and think about what makes a hero super. They then followed up on their designs and crafted their own costumes to wear to the movie screening. Local news outlets attended the screening, and even brought some F.J. Myers kids on the morning news to talk about their experiences.
“Ultimately, this a different way to celebrate black history,” Islam said. “Our history isn’t just defined by the civil rights movement and slavery, but by a whole bunch of different things that we have done and accomplished, and future things we will accomplish. Superheros like Black Panther are making history right now— we can be a part of that and make history too.”