Starting Friday, up to 10,000 Chicago high school students have the opportunity to see the film "Selma" free at one of nine theaters in the area.
The initiative, organized by the nonprofit After School Matters, kicks off this weekend just before Martin Luther King Jr. Dayon Monday. After School Matters provides out-of-school programming for students throughout Chicago with a focus on preparing them for life after graduation.
Damonika Banks, a 17-year-old senior at Simeon Career Academy High School, said Thursday she plans to see "Selma" through the program with her English class.
"It shows the history of people fighting for our rights," Banks said. "There are a lot of things and a lot of lives that would be very different today without them."
"Selma," a Paramount Pictures film, tells the story of King's march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965. The march led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Many kids don't know their own back story, Banks said, adding she thinks it's important for students to understand the leaders who changed history. Banks has participated in several programs at After School Matters and plans to help with a park program for younger kids in the future.
The free showing of "Selma" is part of a national movement, labeled under the Twitter hashtag #SelmaForStudents. It began after business leaders and organizations in the U.S. started a campaign to pay for student admissions, according to Paramount Pictures.
Mary Ellen Caron, CEO of After School Matters, said the board of directors came up with the idea to start raising money for the program. The chairwoman of the board is Ariel Investments President Mellody Hobson, who is married to filmmaker George Lucas.
Caron said fundraising for the 10,000 tickets is continuing. So far, 21 people and organizations have donated to the initiative, but she didn't know how much has been raised. After School Matters participants can contact the organization for information on how to get the free tickets.
Almost 90 percent of the students in After School Matters programs are on free and reduced lunch, Caron said.
After School Matters programs are held in three rotations a year, Caron said, with the spring session starting Feb. 2. Instructors will be given a study guide about "Selma."
Micheal Levesque, a program instructor, said he plans to talk to students about "Selma" and related current events in his spring session.
He said young people tend to view Martin Luther King Jr. as a herculean type figure, and that the movie helps humanize the civil rights leader.
"Teens get pulled into this feeling of apathy," Levesque said. "They'll see on the screen that ordinary people change the world, and they can do that too."
Twitter @lexygross
Participating theaters:
AMC Ford City 14 in Chicago
AMC Loews 600 N Michigan 9 in Chicago
AMC River East 21 in Chicago
AMC Showplace Cicero 14 in Cicero
AMC Showplace Galewood 14 in Chicago
Carmike Lansing Cinemas 8 in Lansing
Chatham 14 Theater in Chicago
Cinemark Melrose Park in Melrose Park
Kerasotes Showplace 16 in Chicago
Regal City North in Chicago
Regal Webster Place in Chicago