At ‘Black Panther’ showings, activists are registering voters – CNET

Black Panther Okoye

The power shown by women in the world of “Black Panther” inspired some to try to bring change to the real world by registering voters.

Marvel Studios

Move over, Rock the Vote. Now there’s “Wakanda the Vote.”

The Electoral Justice Project is an arm of the Movement for Black Lives organization that hopes to use the immense popularity of the Marvel superhero film “Black Panther” to encourage moviegoers to register to vote.

“In watching ‘Black Panther,’ what feels familiar about the real world that we’re in and Wakanda, is that we need someone to defend our communities against attack,” Kayla Reed of the EJP told Vox.com. “We need to step into the idea that we can all be superheroes and we can all be change agents in our communities.”

Over the weekend, as “Black Panther” smashed box-office records, the group held registration events in dozens of US cities, including Miami, Dallas and Atlanta. 

Those interested in creating a voter-registration event are asked to text PANTHER to 91990, while those who need to register to vote can text WAKANDA to 91990.