(Bob Levey/Getty Images for IMAX)
ROXBURY (WBZ-AM) -- Thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Hawthorne Youth & Community Center, 3,000 local kids will get to see the new Black Panther film for free Friday night.
"We did it. 25k 12 days. 400+ people," Liz Miranda, the center's Executive Director, wrote on the GoFundMe page Thursday.
The effort was part of a national #BlackPantherChallenge started by New Yorker Frederick Joseph, who called on communities in other cities to start fundraisers to take children to see the film for free after raising $40,000 to take Harlem children to see it.
With a hero who is black, some say the movie is a much-needed dose of diversity among comic book blockbusters.
"From writers, to directors, to camera men and women to the cast--we are well represented FINALLY in the film," Miranda wrote on the fundraiser page. "Representation matters, and Black Panther is the first predominantly Black Superhero movie in history."
For those among the first to see Black Panther in Boston, there was no shortage of thrills.
"It was just really inspiring, and I think everybody should watch it," one movie-goer told WBZ-TV.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports