One girl who started a campaign to raise money for girls from low-income communities to see Hidden Figures has multiplied across the nation.
Taylor Richardson, who saw Hidden Figures at the White House last year, said that the Oscar-nominated film inspired her to create a GoFundMe, which garnered almost $20,000 while surpassing her goal of $2,600. Since then, she’s inspired nearly 70 people to start similar campaigns, raising about $120K for their communities to see the film.
Hidden Figures tells the incredible true stories of unsung heroes: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson who overcame racial discrimination and became trailblazers at NASA’s segregated Virginia facilities. ESSENCE’s February cover stars, Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe portray the women in the film.
The 13 year old has been recognized as February’s “GoFundMe Hero” for the significant impact that she not only had on her community, but nationwide. As an inspiring astronaut, the teen told ESSENCE that the film inspired her to “work even harder for my dreams.”
“I’ve read a lot of black history and books about women and never had heard of this story. That really bothered me,” she said.
In addition to raising funds for the young girls to see the film, she’s using the donations to go towards a book for each person to take home. Author Margot Lee Shetterly wrote the book about the groundbreaking women before we learned about them on the big screen.
She said that this was especially critical to her campaign because “all kids should have books to read.”
“By having their own books and reading, they can take flight towards their own dreams and aspirations,” she continued.
Richardson mentioned the irony of Black women’s historic impact in the field yet their still being a deficit in the area for women of color. However, she said that the film has “already changed the game for STEM.”
“The film has already given us a push…now we just have to leap forward,” she said.