Serena Williams Surprises Students with Private Screening of Black Panther
Serena Williams is surprising and inspiring some of her youngest fans.
The tennis champion, 36, shared a sweet photo of a group of Black Girls Code students who attended a private screening of Marvel’s Black Panther on Thursday night.
Black Girls Code is a non-profit organization that provides technology education to African-American girls, encouraging them to learn how to code.
A post shared by Alexis Ohanian Sr.???? (@alexisohanian) on Feb 16, 2018 at 7:21am PST
Williams welcomed the girls to the screening and talked about how momentous an occasion it was to see a Marvel film headlined by predominantly African American cast.
“I’m glad you guys could make it out, obviously this is a huge moment for us,” she said. “For black people, we’ve never had a superhero movie so I’m so excited. I feel like I’ve waited my whole life for this.”
She continued, “We’re happy that we got together with Black Girls Code to bring you guys out, I’m glad you guys came!”
Angela Bassett broke down why Black Panther is much more than just a comic-book movie to PEOPLE’s Editor-in-Chief Jess Cagle in the latest episode of The Jess Cagle Interview (streaming now on People TV).
“It’s something that we’ve … never seen it before,” the actress said.
Bassett, 59, who stars as the Queen Mother of Wakanda, said the film offers a long-overdue depiction of people of color in proud roles.
“We would tell our kids you’re of kings and of Queens,” she explained. “We try to instill a sense of pride, and this is that moment where we can look on that screen and see all of that history that we’ve read — that if we’ve been privileged to go back to the motherland to experience — to see it manifested onscreen for the first time.
