How Foster Care Changed Letitia Wright’s Family
By Movieguide® Contributor
BLACK PANTHER star Leticia Wright has become an advocate for young people trapped in the foster care system, most notably through her new movie SOUND OF HOPE: THE STORY OF POSSOM TROT.
“The movement started with First Lady Donna Martin, inspired by her mother’s legacy of loving and caring for children, and grew into a church-wide initiative driven by faith, love and a commitment with her husband, Rev. W.C. Martin, to provide a family for the unloved and broken children in their midst,” Relevant Magazine said of SOUND OF HOPE’s inspiration. “Researchers studying the Possum Trot community found that faith played a central role in the families’ decisions to adopt. Their deep-rooted Christianity provided them with the strength and resilience needed to face the challenges of fostering and adopting children with complex needs.”
As soon as Wright received the script and met the people she would be working with, she knew she wanted to do all she could to help those in the foster care system.
“I was super intrigued,” Wright said of when she first was approached for the film. “The script wasn’t really where it needed to be at the time, but I was intrigued with the story and just the sacrifice of this family really for kids, and it went from there.”
Part of Movieguide®’s review of the film reads:
SOUND OF HOPE: THE STORY OF POSSUM TROT tells a heartwarming story. Donna Martin is grieving after her mother’s unexpected death. However, when God tells her to take in a foster child, she finds new purpose. Her husband is the town pastor and also feels called to take in children. So, he starts preaching about taking in the most in need. The entire town decides to take in foster children. Donna decides to take a very troubled teenage girl named Terri. The family wonders if they’ll be able to show Terri God’s love while maintaining their family.
SOUND OF HOPE: THE STORY OF POSSUM TROT is a beautiful story about an entire town taking in foster children. As such, it has a strong Christian, morally uplifting worldview. However, the movie does deal with some of the realities and hardships foster families and foster children undergo. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for children and families. However, SOUND OF HOPE: THE STORY OF POSSUM TROT shows that God’s love is real and that, no matter what your past is, God will always be with you.
Wright’s aunt fostered children in London, and the actress saw firsthand the impact it could have.
“I saw what love did for these kids, and they were fully like my family,” she said. “They became literally like my cousins, to the point where we would be going abroad or my auntie would be traveling with her foster son, and people would be like, ‘Is this your kid?’ And it’s like, ‘No, but he is my foster kid.’”
With so many children in the foster care system, Wright hopes that her new film will encourage families to consider fostering or even adoption.
“We have to ask ourselves, as a community, specifically as the Church, how do we rally everyone to step in for kids? Because they are the future,” Wright said.
“It’s not just a movie,” she continued. “We’re all calling it a movement. We want people to like take in the story of the Martins, be inspired by it and then say, ‘What are the next action steps I can do to help the situation?”
“We have created a beautiful film that gives voice to vulnerable children, with the hope that families across the country & world, no matter their faith, race or diversity, would join together to help children” she added on Instagram.
SOUND OF HOPE is in theaters across the nation now.
Movieguide® previously reported on Wright:
BLACK PANTHER star Letitia Wright is opening up about her latest movie, SOUND OF HOPE: THE STORY OF POSSOM TROT, which she produced.
The film, distributed by Angel Studios, was released July 4 and follows the true story of Bishop W.C. Martin and Donna Martin who trailblaze as foster and adoptive parents in their East Texas town.
“They’re a wonderful example of what we can do to help children,” Wright told THE VIEW. She discovered the Martins’ story in 2020 and was inspired after meeting their family.
“We have created a beautiful film that gives a voice to vulnerable children, with the hope that families across the country & world, no matter their faith, race or diversity, would join together to help children, to be moved to make a difference in any way they can,” she said in a recent Instagram post.
“I stand firm in the belief that this film will rise above the discourse to speak for itself, and I encourage audiences everywhere to be inspired & witness the incredible true story of how a small church community changed the lives of 77 young children in Texas, and become part of the movement to change the lives of children across America & the World,” the actress added.