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Seattle's African-American community embraces 'Black Panther' movie

By David Solano
By David Solano

Shows were sold out on Thursday, Feb. 15 for a super hero movie that some critics are calling a “defining moment.”

Even before reviews were tallied, “Black Panther” was being celebrated for a predominantly black cast in one of the most anticipated movies of the year.

Released in the middle of Black History Month, the latest installment in Marvel's superhero franchise is now about much more than just comics.

There's a lot of buzz surrounding the release of Black Panther.

And it was the talk at The Shop in Seattle before it was released.

"It makes you do research,” said Ennis Ticeson, owner of The Shop hair design business. “You look into "Black Panther" [and] you're going to look into more of, you know, African history. The African story."

“Black Panther” takes place in the fictional African nation of Wakanda.

Chadwick Boseman, who stars as T'Challa, is the country's new ruler.

"I knew the comic book from the beginning had the possibility of being [about these] Afro-futurist sociopolitical issues that you could bring up in it,” said Boseman. “That's why you want to do it."

“Black Panther” picks up directly after the events of the movie "Captain America: Civil War." Those who haven't seen it yet are already hearing great things about its message.

"I know somebody that watched the prescreening of it,” Micah Greenwood, who plans on watching the movie, said. “They said it was life-changing as far as the way the movie was constructed, because it has a comic vibe to it."

Duron Wright is planning on seeing “Black Panther” tomorrow.

"I just like his suit,” said Wright, who was at The Shop getting his haircut. “He's [T’Challa] a really cool fighter."

Some say the trailer for the movie makes them think about the African-American struggle for equality.

"It shows that we're powerful people,” Bryan Smith, a Seattle native, said. “They can show that another race can actually be as strong as any race."

Since "Black Panther" is being released during Black History Month, Ticeson thinks about those who were instrumental in the Civil Rights movement.

"Yeah, I tip my hat off to them brothers and sisters," said Ticeson.

Comics Dungeon in Wallingford is trying to raise enough funds in the next two weeks to send 150 kids from Denny Middle School to see "Black Panther."  Follow this link to go to the donation page.

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