Send Refugee Youth to Black Panther

Hello friends,

I am a local artist and advocate at the Tampa chapter of Love Has No Borders which is a radical, grassroots, refugee solidarity movement nationwide. We stand with refugees, muslims, the undocumented and all others marginalized by racism, xenophobia, capitalism, classism and more. At the Tampa chapter of Love Has No Borders we serve over 50 refugee families.
With the help of our treasurer, Aaron Walker, who will be the beneficiary of this project and distribute the ticket funds, we wish to send approximately 100 children above the age of 8 as approved by their families to see the latest marvel hit, Black Panther. We need your help.

I do not come to you to raise funds for a disaster or tragedy. This time, I come to you asking help to fund a celebration and positive transformative artistic experience for our at-risk and high-risk refugee children. Many of you do not know that this local area has neighborhoods comprised of refugee families from Burma, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan and other nations who are severely underserved and fight against huge systematic disadvantages every day. Our families are appreciative of literally any donation. Our monthly care packages of food and toiletries donated by the community are met with gratitude which I have not encountered so deeply elsewhere. A child thanks me ten times for a composition notebook for school. These children are not given the same opportunities as the others in our area. They are often the first in their family to speak English, which means they translate important documents and conversations to their parents. They often only have one family car which their parents use for work, so most do not have the opportunity for extracurriculars outside of the neighborhood, which has no enrichment programs other than what we at Love Has No Borders arrange one day out of the month. I know our families will be so grateful for any donation you can offer.

I personally cried five times during the film out of sheer love, lament, and celebration. I also cried with overwhelming joy and pride I have for the children I work and play with, how I have seen them grow, and how much they will be impacted by this film. This work is a piece of black excellence and a celebration of our refugee children home countries, cultures and values. Black Panther is a celebration of the trials and triumphs of native lands and the personal yet universal experiences of their youth and families. It is imperative that our children of color see the superhero trope personalized to their experience and visually demonstrated by mainstream Hollywood with lavish attention and care. To see theaters full of engaged audiences donning the clothes of their homelands alone is exactly the support, validation, and encouragement our refugee youth need in these times of discrimination and hate.

Although the narrative is fiction, the film draws upon historio-cultural influences of the gold capital of the Mali empire and great cultural hubs such as Timbuktu, Ancient Egypt, Great Zimbabwe, Meroe, Axum, and Songhai. Black Panther demonstrates the complexity and richness of the experience of people of color, replacing inaccurate typecast and racist images of “slave” and “criminal” which perpetuate cycles of oppression with positive “superhero” characters.

As for logistics, my co-organizer of Love Has No Borders and Assistant Professor of Film, Animation, and New Media at the University of Tampa, Aaron Walker, will be managing funds raised. We will have volunteers coordinate transportation to and from the movie theatre. We will have our folks at Love Has No Borders translate permission slips into Arabic and other languages clearly describing to the parents the nature of the film and our intentions. We are working with movie theaters currently to arrange for a discount price for weekend showings. If we continue to receive funds after our goal has been reached, we will arrange to send families along with their children as well as open this up to local Title I schools.

Any amount counts. If you are part of an institution that wishes to matches funds or contribute we would be so grateful for your support. Individual donations are just as significant and our children cherish any amount you wish to send.

Thank you,
Allison

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About this project:

- We have a goal to take approximately 100 children from the refugee community to the film with an average estimated ticket price of $5. Any funds that surpass our $500 goal will go to bringing the student's friends, buying entry for the many volunteers who will help get the students to the films, and, hopefully, buying popcorn and snacks so they can fully enjoy their day. ALL funds will be spent on this project directly. We want to help these kids celebrate and participate in the culture.

- Funds will be distributed by Aaron Walker, co-organizer, who will receive them directly on behalf of Love Has No Borders. He will then either directly purchase the tickets for the kids or will purchase vouchers so that volunteer chaperones can get tickets for the kids. Any additional funds will go to vouchers at the specific theaters to buy snacks. All screenings will be at local Tampa Bay movie theaters.

About me: After attending the Parsons School of Design in New York City, I graduated with cum laude distinction from the University of South Florida with a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. I currently have a sociological publication under review regarding how gender and racial stereotypes are perpetuated in media images. In addition to Love Has No Borders, I also organize Decentralized Response, a three-thousand deep Facebook network of local volunteers and 24-hour disaster relief hotline through which we aid our neighbors overlooked by big institutions during times of natural disaster. I am establishing an youth arts enrichment program at the St. Pete Eco Village and am involved in producing the first annual Tampa Bay Collard Greens Festival in Southside St. Petersburg dedicated to accessible and healthy eating in celebration of Southern food culture. In all of this, though, my heart resides with our children at Love Has No Borders. I talk to these children every day and without hesitation call them family. Thank you for this opportunity and every dollar you donate counts. All donations will go DIRECTLY to the children. Thank you for your help and please spread the word.

About Aaron: Aaron Walker is my co-organizer and fund manager for this project, and volunteer with Love Has No Borders. He is also the  Assistant Professor of Film, Animation, and New Media at the University of Tampa. He is the programmer of the Tournées Film Festival University of Tampa, dedicated to showcasing globally-concious women filmmakers. As I Open My Eyes (2015) and Fatima (2015) will run on February 23 and 25, respectively, at the Falk Theater free of charge to the public.