Today, the long anticipated movie “Black Panther” is being released. It’s a Marvel Comics movie and the central character is black. A recent article in the New York Times Magazine argued this movie is a “defining moment for black America.”
In a sign of the film's anticipated cultural importance, an organization called Hero Nation along with Ypsilanti High School are taking more than 100 students to a private screening of “Black Panther."
Jermaine Dickerson, the founder of Hero Nation, joined Stateside to discuss “Black Panther.” In his conversation with Lester Graham, he discussed why it’s important for kids to see the movie, why this film is different from other black superheroes on screen, like Blade or Hancock, and how the film would have been received if it had been released before the killings Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and others. He also discussed why it’s taken so long for Black Panther to make it to the big screen and whether the film will be seen as a statement about black empowerment.
Listen above for the entire conversation.
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