To help encourage the importance of literacy and the arts during the summer, Disney’s new anticipated Film, “The Lion King”, collaborated with Keke Palmer’s Cinderellas Program at local Boys & Girls Club in California; East Los Angeles, Georgia; Atlanta, Greater Washington; DC and New York; Harlem.
Girls within Keke’s program received surprise gifts from Disney’s “The Lion King” at the Boys & Girls Club and they participated in special book readings from Disney’s Channel Mentors, like Ruth Righi from her show, “Sydney to the Max” to encourage the importance of literacy and the arts.
The “Saving Our Cinderellas Program” supports girls between the ages of 9-17 years old – helping to create art and literacy themes to develop skills to overcome obstacles like bullying, low-self-esteem, peer pressure, and gaps in the number of role models in their communities.
Keke’s program was excited to highlight the importance of literacy inspired by the upcoming release of Disney’s “The Lion King” and welcomes The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington within the program.
Girls in Keke Palmer’s “Cinderellas” program create positive peer friendships and deter interactions in bullying with their “Celebrity Godparent” Mentors. Keke’s Cinderellas participated in special book readings to encourage the importance of literacy and the arts.
About Keke Palmer’s “Cinderella Program”
In 2014, while on Broadway, acclaimed actress, singer, and talk show host, Keke Palmer, invited underprivileged girls, from the Bronx and Queens NY, to the Broadway musical, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Palmer was the first African American actress to play Cinderella on Broadway.
This opportunity for the young girls to watch their first Broadway musical with Keke Palmer in the leading role as the iconic Cinderella, was such an awesome experience that launched into an amazing program! Saving Our Cinderellas is a program, co-founded by Keke, that reaches out to girls of color in an effort to encourage them within the arts to help deter bullying in school.
Since the incredible launch of the Saving Our Cinderellas program, influential young actresses of Hollywood have become positive “Celebrity Godparents”, such as Yara Shahidi, of “Black`ish”, Eris Baker of “This is Us”, and Storm Reid from Disney’s “Wrinkle of Time”, just to name a few have mentored to deter bullying and inspire their girls of color across the country.
To date, Keke’s Cinderellas program has reached thousands of girls and has partnered with numerous popular Broadway Musicals and many of the actors’ popular televisions shows of FOX, NBC, ABC and Disney, to encourage girls within the arts arena.
About Disney’s “The Lion King”
Disney’s “The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau, journeys to the African savanna where a future king is born. Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother—and former heir to the throne—has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his. The all-star cast includes Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon. Utilizing pioneering filmmaking techniques to bring treasured characters to life in a whole new way, Disney’s “The Lion King” roars into theaters on July 19, 2019.