This 13-year-old aspiring astronaut raised enough money for 1,000 girls to see Hidden Figures


Taylor Richardson, a 13-year-old who plans on becoming an astronaut when she grows up, loved Hidden Figures so much that she raised enough money for 1,000 other girls to watch the movie.
Hidden Figures, based on a book of the same name, tells the true story of three black women who worked as mathematicians at NASA during the Space Race. Richardson saw the movie in December during a special screening at the White House, and wanted her peers back home in Jacksonville, Florida, to have the same opportunity. She started a GoFundMe, raised more than her goal, and was able to not only hold three screenings but also give out 700 books. "I like [Hidden Figures] because it tells the story of how not just three women, but women who looked like me, change the space game for the U.S.," Richardson told People. "And that's huge!"
Richardson has inspired 70 similar campaigns, and is excited that so many other young women will now have the chance to see the film. "I feel it's important for everyone who has a dream or who may feel they can't reach it or are told they shouldn't reach it to see this movie," she said. "Girls need to know if we do the work and stick together like these women did, we can accomplish many things."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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