Hodge brings 180 kids to Long Beach Cinemas

Trip was to learn lessons about working together regradless of background

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Spending time as the chairman of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Long Beach, James Hodge has been helping the younger generations for quite some time. Now the former chairman, he continues to do the same.

Hodge brought 180 children, along with some seniors, to the Long Beach Movie Theater to see “Black Panther” last Tuesday, Nov. 29. He partnered with a couple organizations, including the Long Beach Film Festival, the Robert D. Gause Foundation and the Long Beach High School African American Club.

Hodge said he likes to put things together for his birthday, which was the next day, Nov. 30. “I’ve done this many times before,” he said. “I wanted to honor my birthday to bring some seniors and, first of all, children, to the movies.”

He went walking and calling around the community, talking to parents that may not be able to afford the movies. As a result, the theater offered a deal for them, where $15 would include a ticket, popcorn and a drink.

Going to the movies wasn’t just to enjoy the film, but to learn as well. Hodge said he wanted the children, in particular, to “see and get a lot of the points of the movie.”

“I wanted to see what points they got out of the movie,” he said. “One of the key things and key focuses was being able to work together. Different communities, different cultures, different walks of life. Working together, we could get so much more done.”

He said he would not have been able to treat the kids to the movies "without the help of my friends, Facebook friends and family."