Project P.U.L.L helped students see a screening of the new Marvel movie “Black Panther” as part of the campus wide Black History Month celebration. The film has been a box-office hit due to the representation of African-Americans in the film. The Black Panther was the first black superhero to be featured in mainstream comics when he first appeared in 1966. Jonathan Rhodes/The Lion’s Roar
Project P.U.L.L hosted a showing of Marvel’s “Black Panther” at the AMC Hammond Palace 10 as part of the celebration of Black History Month. According to variety.com, the film has been setting records in the Box Office, and although it is not the first film about a black superhero, “Black Panther” was the first black superhero in mainstream American comic books.
Coordinator of Project P.U.L.L Cedric Dent Jr. explained why this movie should be celebrated and how important it is to society.
“I feel like it’s needed in this time and place that we are living in,” said Dent. “There is a lot of inequality. After this movie, we are hoping for people to push for more black culture and embrace more black culture.”
Student organizations and other departments on campus kicked off Black History Month with a celebration on Feb. 5. Since then, student organizations have put together events such as “Culture Night,” “Bake Sale Fundraiser” and the annual “Young, Black & Gifted.”
Students were amazed by how well the film was done and to see black people represented in an action-packed and entertaining way.
“Honestly, it was perfect,” said freshman general management major Timothy Chandler. “I didn’t get anything negative from the movie at all. This movie was extremely important because we don’t get the recognition we deserve in films. There are a lot of, and I hate to say it, white films, but there is, and this means a lot to us.”
The representation in the film was what stood out the most to students and is what they hope to see more of in film in general.
“I thought it was really cool,” said freshman kinesiology major Caitlin Harris. “I have never seen anything like it. I don’t normally like action movies, but this was really good. Usually we don’t see a lot of films like this, but I think it coming out at a time like this will help people to become more aware of what is going on around them.”
To finish Black History Month, tonight from 7-9 p.m. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. are hosting “Back to Your Roots.” The Multicultural and International Student Affairs will have Happy Hour on Feb 28. from 4-6:30 p.m., and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity will host “Definition of Black” from 6:30-8 p.m.
Dent hopes that the Black History Month events will encourage all African-American students to be proud of whom they are.
“Just doing this all black thing I think is very beneficial, and we are going to post pictures on Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter to make sure that we are doing it right and are letting these kids be able to change their mentality,” said Dent.