Week in Review: Black Panther Success, Billy Graham, & Protesting Students

Image: PL Gould / Images Press via Getty Images

This Week in Review was written by Stephen Nielsen.

1. The movie Black Panther hit theaters this last Thursday. One of Marvel’s most important movies to date grossed over $200 million over its weekend opener. Black Panther is also a rare movie in the fact that it features a primarily black cast. An article written by the Washington Post explores whether this will continue to remain an anomaly or if casts like that of Black Panther will become the new norm in Hollywood. In this article, Rhea Combs, who works for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture said this about Black Panther’s success, “‘Black Panther comes in the midst of Black Lives Matter and all the other important social movements that are happening now. It makes for a very powerful combination.’” This article is an interesting read and explores Hollywood’s past with primarily black casts.
2. On Wednesday, Christians around the world mourned the death and celebrated the life of the great evangelist Billy Graham. Famous for his crusades around the world, he touched many lives, even those of my family. Graham is famous for saying these words during his lifetime: “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.” This Wall Street Journal article details more of this life and those he has influenced.
3. After last week’s school shooting in Parkland, FL, students in schools around Chicago have decided that they won’t stand by and look on at the tragedy’s in schools around the country. In this Sun-Times article, students in Oak Park, Batavia, and Schaumburg organized a school walkout in protest of gun violence. More on this story and the motives behind this student initiative can be found alongside videos and pictures here.
4. This weekend is host to many large events including that of the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the National Harbor in Maryland. Many conservative speakers have taken the podium to voice their concerns, give encouragement to grass-roots activists, and be a place for conservatives to gather in one place, sharing their ideals and ideas. CPAC is an annual event and you can read more about the speaker agenda as well as CPAC’s existence here. Our own Senior Editor, Ricardo Huerta, is attending the conference.
5. Unfortunately, we can’t skate around the subject that this coming Sunday marks the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. The Olympics have slalomed their way around popular TV shows which have been forced to take breaks in order to keep up ratings. So while you’ll have to wait another four years until the US can medal in figure skating, in the mean time you can still curl up and watch your favorite TV shows. You win some, you luge some. Catch the closing ceremonies on NBC.