20 February

The Soccer Team And The Black Panther

by Jon Katz
Ali and posse at the movie theater, the “Pink Panthers”: Selfie by Amjad Abdulla

When I saw the movie “The Black Panther” on Saturday, I immediately called Ali up on the phone and  said “you have to take the soccer team to see this movie.” The kids on the team come from Southeast Asia, The Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa.

Movies like this are beyond the reach of most of these kids, they are too expensive, and their families generally do not have viewing or streaming technology. Few of the families have cars to get out to the cinemaplexes where these movies are often shown.

It costs about $250 take the whole team to a movie and give them soda and popcorn. Yet this exposure to relevant culture is critical to their personal development and their acclimation to American life.

Ali loved the idea and jumped on it.

Anyone who has seen the movie will understand why it is important for these kids to see it, I wrote a review of the movie Saturday night. I give Ali a blank check every week to hold for “emergencies” like this.  The movie imagines a world that has not been colonialized, a them that touches almost every one of these children.

It shows a world of pride and advancement and compassion, one they rarely see reflected in their own lives. Ali said it was the best movie he had ever seen, and the kids loved it. And they got the importance of it.

Thanks to those of you who have supported this work, it is making such a difference in the lives of these kids. You can support the RISSE soccer team and other refugee and immigrant children by donating to the Children’s Refugee Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].

I intend to focus on the soccer team and also the RISSE (refugee and immigrant support center in Albany, N.Y.) women’s basketball team throughout this year, it is so important that they be supported and succeeded. They have suffered more than enough. Thanks. Small donations are just as important as big ones, and just as welcome and appreciated.

Tomorrow, the big soccer indoor tournament, Friday the refugee kids meet the Mansion residents. A great week.

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