After School Matters Provides 10,000 Chicago Teens Free Admission to See “Selma” over Dr. MLK Weekend

Lee Edwards | As of Friday, January 23, 2015

“ The film ‘SELMA’ represents a powerful moment in our nation's history. It is critical that our teens appreciate the significance of this moment and its extraordinary impact on the advancement of civil rights.” - E. Robbie Robinson, After School Matters Vice Chair and Managing Director at BDT & Company

After School Matters (ASM), a nonprofit organization that provides out-of-school programming opportunities for Chicago’s youth, in partnership with a coalition of Chicago business and civic leaders, provided 10,000 teens with free admission to see the major motion picture “Selma”, on Jan .19, in honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Selma” depicts Dr. King’s organized voting rights movement in Selma, Al. which led to the legislative drafting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The ASM Board of Directors, chaired by Ariel Investments President Mellody Hobson, is spearheading this effort to give After School Matters teens – the majority of whom are minorities with 87 percent living at or below poverty – the opportunity to see the film at no cost. Modeled on a similar initiative underway in New York City and other cities nationwide, the organization’s Board is coordinating the fundraising effort in partnership with friends and leaders in Chicago’s business and civic communities.

Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments, After School Matter's Board Chair.

"The film ‘SELMA’ represents a powerful moment in our nation's history," said E. Robbie Robinson, Managing Director at BDT & Company and Vice Chair of the Board of ASM. "It is critical that our teens appreciate the significance of this moment and its extraordinary impact on the advancement of civil rights. ASM is thrilled to provide our teens the opportunity to see the film." Robinson, along with Desiree Rogers, CEO of Johnson Publishing Company and an advisory board member of ASM, led the fundraising effort to provide this experience to the teens.

Thanks to that fundraising effort, ASM teens received instructions on how to gain free admittance to screenings of “Selma” at theaters in and near Chicago over the course of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend starting on Jan. 16 and ending on Jan. 18.

ASM is taking further steps to maximize this opportunity for teens. All participants will complete an electronic survey about their experience after seeing the film. Furthermore, all ASM program instructors will be provided with a study guide and encouraged to incorporate the historical material into the curricula for their Spring programs, which begin on Feb. 2. In line with ASM’ project-based learning model, a number of these programs will incorporate the film’s themes and messages into their final projects.

“What took place 50 years ago in Selma is key to understanding much about the civil rights movement, race, equality and democracy,” said ASM Board Chair Mellody Hobson. “I want our teens to experience that moment in history and see how it directly connects to the challenges they face today. By encouraging this kind of civic engagement – whether that means talking about civil rights generally or about the right to vote as depicted in the film – we can empower our teens to take hold of their futures.”

Participating Chicagoland theaters included:

· AMC Ford City 14, 7601 S. Cicero Ave., Chicago, Il.

· AMC Loews, 600 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Il.

· AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois St., Chicago, Il.

· AMC Showplace Galewood 14, 5530 W. Homer St., Chicago, Il.

· Lansing Cinema 8, 16621 Torrence Ave., Lansing, Il.

· I.C. E. Entertainment, 210 W. 87th St., Chicago, Il.

· AMC Showplace Cicero 14, Hawthorne Works Shopping Center, 4779 W. Cermak Rd., Cicero, Il.

· Cinemark, 1001 W. North Ave., Melrose Park, Il.

For more information about After School Matters visit http://www.afterschoolmatters.org/.