BE N E D I CT CO L L EG E OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING

PR ES S R EL EAS E

From the Comic Book Pages to a Box Office Hit Movie

Benedict College Professor and Acclaimed Marvel Illustrator

Sanford Green Presents a Panel Discussion on the

Power of the Black Panther Movie

Columbia, SC – February 27, 2018 Benedict College Professor and celebrated Marvel

Comics Illustrator Sanford Greene is merging his two worlds to present a panel discussion on the

power of the Black Panther Movie. The event entitled The Back Panther Black Out will be held

Thursday, March 1, 2018, at 6 p.m. in the David H. Swinton Campus Center Ballroom. The

dialog is free and open to the public. Guests are asked to wear black or African Attire to the

panel discussion. Special invited guest the Honorable Stephen Benjamin, Mayor of Columbia,

SC.

This weekend the Black Panther movie surpassed $100 million in its second week in U.S.

theaters becoming only the fourth movie to achieve this feat. The Disney and Marvel Studio

film topped Jurassic World and Marvel Avengers to post the second-best sophomore weekend in

U.S. history.

High praise from numerous critics and positive word of mouth have sustained the electric-like

buzz around the first big-budget superhero movie to feature a majority black cast. “We have

never seen anything quite like this before,” comments Sanford Greene. “Black Panther is causing

socio-political discussion all across the planet.”

Greene’s illustration career has spanned over 15 years. His clients

include Marvel/Disney, DC Comics, SEGA, Nickelodeon,

Hasbro, and Warner Brothers. Some of his more recent work is

for a children book series called Kulipari , Book 1- Army of

Frogs Book 2-The Rainbow Serpent, and Book 3-Amphibians

End for Amulet Books which was adapted into a show for

Netflix.

He is the artist for Marvel Comics Uncanny Avengers where he

did a dedication to a local child that tragically lost his life. He

illustrated the book cover for “Charlamane ThaGod’s” book Black Privilege. His most recent

work can be seen at Marvel comics where he is the illustrator of the acclaimed series Powerman,

(Luke Cage) and Iron Fist. He is also the cover artist for the highly successful series Black

Panther. He has received several awards including the Key to the City of Columbia in 2015 and

the Hall of Fame Award for Williamsburg County in 2016.

Joining Greene on the panel will be Preach Jacobs and Octavia Edwards.

Jacobs is a hip-hop artist, writer and founder of Cola-Con, the nation's only

hip-hop and comic convention. His music has been featured on NPR and

Okayplayer, and his writings and works have been

lectured at universities nationwide including

Harvard University. His latest column is featured in

the Columbia weekly newspaper Free-Times. The

column is entitled Fight the Power covers hip-hop,

politics, and social awareness.

Octavia Edwards is an entrepreneur, empowerment

speaker, visionary and education activist who is best known as the

founder and CEO of one(hue)nation, a social awareness brand that

promotes unity and fuses underground history with art and street-wear

fashion. Edwards is passionate about inspiring our nation's youth on the

importance of knowing their history. Edwards has also been selected to

speak at the HBCU Symposium 2018 at Florida Memorial University, one of many events she

plans to present at this year.

About Benedict College

Founded in 1870, Benedict College is a private, co-educational liberal arts institution and home

to over 2,100 students in its 32 baccalaureate degree programs. The College, affiliated with the

Baptist Church, is located on 220 acres nestled in the heart of Columbia, SC. Over the last six

years, Benedict College has been ranked as one of the top baccalaureate colleges in the nation by

Washington Monthly for creating social mobility, producing cutting-edge scholarship and

research. Benedict has high-quality programs of teaching, research, and public service. Benedict

recently received the National Civic Engagement Award from The Washington Center for

encouraging students to give back to the community. Benedict has over 17,000 proud alumni

throughout the nation. The College has been “a power for good” in the community for over 147

years and is a major economic contributor to the region and South Carolina, with a local annual

economic impact of over $130 million.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kymm Hunter, Assistant Vice President for Communications and Marketing 803.705.4519 or Kymm.Hunter@Benedict.edu