Help Lea See Black Panther

We are Lea Elementary School in West Philly, PA, and we want to raise enough money to take our students and educators to see Black Panther.

It is a rare thing to see a work of popular entertainment that possesses the potential to change how we think about the world we live in, but Black Panther is certainly such a work. This film is not merely a work of entertainment, but is also a work of art, and one that we believe is important for everyone to see, think about, and learn from. 

We believe it is important for our students to see Black Panther for many reasons.

We want our students and teachers to critically discuss and engage with the important themes and issues raised by the film such as  Black excellence, intergenerational wisdom, restorative justice, representation, racism,  sexism, colonialism, power, responsibility, and more.

We want our students and staff to ask themselves important and difficult questions related to the film, such as: Why is it important for superheroes to be diverse? How does Black Panther explore issues related to race? What did you think of the way Black Panther portrays women in usually "male" roles?

We want our students -- who come from a wide diversity of backgrounds -- to see characters with whom they can identify, and through whom they can dream and explore. 

If we could pay for every student and educator at Lea to see the movie, we would have already done so. Since we can't, we're  reaching out to our community and beyond to see who can help us make this opportunity a reality.

With Black Panther being released this past weekend, we want to make sure that Lea students have the opportunity to see this movie before it leaves the theaters. Therefore, we hope to raise the requested funds by the end of February at the latest.

If you still cherish the important movies and books from your childhood, if you still hold dear your favorite films and stories that have impacted you in some way or another, then we hope you will donate so that our students can maybe have Black Panther be such an inspiration for them.

Thank you from all of us at Lea, and if you have any questions regarding this campiagn, please contact Rich Liuzzi, Director of School-Community Partnerships at Lea.

#BlackPantherChallenge
#BlackLivesMatterAtLea
#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool
#BLMPHLed
#BlackLivesMatter


Note: Principal ShaVon Savage has been added as the beneficiary of this campaign, and as a representative of Lea, will withdraw the funds to place in the school's bank account in order to purchase movie tickets and buses for the Black Panther screenings.