Dayton mom treats 30 strangers to movie
Samil Pullen of Dayton did something most people would find crazy: She took 30 kids — who she didn’t even know — to the movies.
Pullen, a program manager at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, dropped $240 on 30 tickets to Marvel’s “Black Panther” and gave the tickets away on Facebook.
Although she didn’t know it at the time, the single mother had accepted the #BlackPantherChallenge.
Celebrities and everyday people around the country are paying for tickets so that needy children can see the blockbuster movie. The movie’s production was designed by Wright State University and Centerville High School alumna Hannah Beachler.
Accepting the challenge, the Atlanta Hawks hosted a screening for 150 youth and their chaperones.
New York resident Frederick Joseph started the challenge after raising $40,000 on Gofundme to take Harlem, N.Y., children to see the movie.
Pullen’s and the many kids went to see the movie last Saturday, Feb. 24, in Huber Heights.
It was the third viewing for Pullen. His mom, a Dayton native, saw the movie alone the first time and was amazed.
After that viewing, she took her 13-year-old son Mi’Kel to see the film. Pullen said she decided to buy tickets for other children after her son saw the movie, which prompted him to ask questions about African heritage and black history.
It was only after the movie that Pullen, who took a DNA test a year ago to trace her roots, said that her son wanted to research the African tribe from which her family comes.
Pullen’s son also expressed great interest in the movie’s female army. That conversation lead to a discussion about the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female regiment from the former African Kingdom of Dahoney in what is now Benin.