Amid the hype of last year's smash superhero flick Black Panther, there was an initiative to get as many Black children into theaters to see the Afro-futuristic Oscar winner. 

The Black Panther Challenge set out to take 300 lucky Harlem children to see the film. Creator Frederick T. Joseph launched a GoFundMe campaign on behalf of the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem with an initial goal of $10,000. As news circulated, donations came in at a breakneck pace, and he ultimately received $52,128 in donations.

Big name celebs like Gabrielle Union and Snoop Dogg caught on to the challenge, helping generate an additional $1 million in other donations. The success of the challenge bred another: the Captain Marvel Challenge. 

“I understand that we’ve had women-led superhero films before. Wonder Woman came out a few years ago,” he told Ebony in a recent interview. “But Captain Marvel’s character is something that we’ve never seen before. She was in the Air Force, her best friend is Black, she has a cat and she wears a suit. She’s not wearing some type of hypersexualized outfit.”

With a similar goal in mind, Joseph launched the GoFundMe campaign nearly two months ago. Donations poured in at $63,082, exceeding its $20,000 goal. 

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Young girls from the organization Girls Inc. of Greater Los Angeles received the opportunity to see Marvel's first female superhero film on the silver screen on March 8.

Girls Inc. serves girls living in Watts and Compton who are deemed "at risk." The organization provides several in-school and after-school enrichment programs for girls in elementary, middle and high school. 

Representation matters, and it can be a foundational tool to change children's lives. Seeing the latest film could impact young girls in many ways.

While speaking to Ebony, the writer and marketing consultant said that his ultimate goal was to get more people from different groups in positions to make creative decisions. Diversity is not enough. 

“I actually think diversity for me isn’t the word, it’s inclusion. Diversity is Green Book, right? It’s like, ‘Oh, there’s a Black person in it [so] it’s diverse.’ What you need is actually getting Black people and other people who are marginalized in the room to make decisions.”

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black panther challengeCaptain MarvelCaptain Marvel Challenge