This 13-Year-Old Raised Money For Over 800 People To See ‘Hidden Figures’

Style Magazine Newswire | 2/27/2017, 8:45 a.m.
Taylor Richardson believes the Oscar-nominated film reminds Black women that they can do anything!
Taylor Richardson

A 13-year-old aspiring astronaut wants everyone to see the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures—so much so that she has helped over 800 folks view it for free.

According to The Huffington Post, Taylor Richardson was awarded the GoFundMe’s February “Hero of the Month” after raising $17,000 through the fundraising website for people throughout the nation to go see the hit movie.

She got the idea after attending a White House screening of Hidden Figures in December, inspired by the film’s portrayal of three real-life African-American female mathematicians— Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson— who helped send astronaut John Glenn to space.

“[Hidden Figures] shows me that women, and especially African-American women, can do anything a guy can do and anything a white male can do,” Richardson recently told Huff Po.

She didn’t expect for the project to grow so big. Her initial goal was to raise $2,600 to help young Black girls in Florida see the film. But since she launched the page, donations have kept coming in and she has expanded her screenings to other parts of the country.

Richardson has also expanded has access to the free screenings.

“We wanted to have other groups see not just what three black women did, but just to know [of our] contributions,” Richardson’s mother said.

For more information go to http://www.blackamericaweb.com

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