Gayle King Sends 250 Harlem Students To See 'Black Panther'

HARLEM, NY — News anchor Gayle King treated 250 Harlem middle and high school students to a free screening of Marvel's newest superhero movie "Black Panther" on Wednesday.

King covered the cost of tickets and concessions for the Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing Arts students to watch the movie at the AMC Magic Johnson cinema on West 124th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. King wanted the students to see the movie — which features a primarily-black cast and has shattered box-office predictions since its Feb. 16 release — during Black History Month.

The longtime television personality reached out to State Senator Brian Benjamin for guidance about which school to select for the free screening, Benjamin said in a press release.

"I immediately thought of Wadleigh Secondary School because of its focus on excellence in the arts for middle and high school students in Harlem," Benjamin said in a statement. "Gayle King could have provided these tickets to any community anywhere in the world and I am glad she chose my district for her generosity. I thank her very much for her commitment to our next generation."

Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing Arts serves students from the sixth to twelfth grades, according to the Department of Education. The school is located on West 114th Street between Seventh Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

"At a time when the work of black people is under attack, it is so important for young black people to see vibrant and proud images of people who look like them. Our mythology informs our consciousnesses, and Black Panther is a clear and unique vision of the value of black people," Paul McIntosh, the librarian at Wadleigh Secondary School, said in a statement.

Photo courtesy New York State Senator Brian Benjamin's office