African-American business leaders in New York have come together to bring “Selma,” the Golden Globe-nominated film, to thousands of schoolchildren throughout the United States.
The initiative began in New York City, with the coalition of business owners coming together with Paramount to bring the film to 27,000 of the city’s 7th, 8th and 9th graders for free. But when the news caught on, the initiative sold out of the tickets in its first weekend and was later expanded to 75,000 tickets. Now, the program includes Nashville, Boston, New Jersey, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Sarasota and Westchester.
Local business leaders who are sponsoring tickets include Boston’s Bennie Wiley, Principal, The Wiley Group and Flash Wiley, Counsel, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (10,000 tickets), Nashville’s Lawrence Jackson, Chairman, SourceMark, LLC, Former President, Dollar General (10,000 tickets), Northern New Jersey’s David R. Jones, President & CEO, CastleOak Securities, L.P., Anré Williams, President, Global Merchant Services, American Express, and Carla A. Harris, Vice Chairman, Morgan Stanley (10,000 tickets), Philadelphia’s Leslie Brun,Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SARR Group, LLC (10,000 tickets), San Francisco’s Charles Ward, Chief Development Officer, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (10,000 tickets) Sarasota’s Grain Family (1,000 tickets) and Westchester’s Michael V. Littlejohn, Partner, IBM Global Business Services(6,000 tickets).
Just like with the original New York initiative, students have to show a student ID or a report card at participating theaters to receive their free viewing. Students can view “Selma” for free until Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 19) or until tickets last.
Bill Lewis, co-chairman of Investment Banking, Lazard, spoke about the program and business owners’ involvement. “Our goal was to educate as many children as we could about the historical importance and contemporary relevance of the march in Selma,” he said. “Seeing so many business leaders in other cities join this spontaneous initiative is a wonderful outcome for the children and for our country.”
To learn more about which theaters are participating, visit SelmaMovie.com/studenttickets. Also, tweet about the free viewings with the hashtag #SelmaForStudents.
For a list of participating theaters in select cities offering free admission to students during this program and for information on group sales, visit www.SelmaMovie.com/studenttickets
“Selma” is directed by Ava DuVernay and stars David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Giovanni Ribisi, Common, Carmen Ejogo, Lorraine Toussaint, Tim Roth and Oprah Winfrey.
“‘SELMA’ is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s “SELMA” tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.”
