Tyler Yarbrough didn’t see Sinners once, but twice.

The film, which has made $161 million at the box office, is authentically Mississippi Delta through and through, he said. From the Chinese Delta history to the Black businesses, residents say director and filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who has Mississippi roots, did his homework.

On both visits to the movies, Yarbrough, who is from Clarksdale, Mississippi, had to drive nearly 80 miles to see the film, a luxury not afforded to many. There’s limited public transportation in the area and many lack the financial resources to afford a car in the majority Black town of 14,000 where the median income is $35,000. 

There’s no active movie theater in the small town. 

The Delta Cinema closed in 2003, one of a string of closures of downtown businesses that year, the Clarksdale Press Register reported. Constructed in 1918, the Paramount Movie Theater — formerly a segregated theater — has been acquired by youth nonprofit Griot Arts Inc., which plans to revamp the space as an arts education center. And the New Roxy, once a former Black movie theater in the New World District — the historic Black downtown — is now a music venue.

Read More: ‘Sinners’ Honored Juke Joints. Today, They’re Fighting to Stay Open.

Clarksdale serves as the centerpiece of the film, and much of America’s civil rights and blues history. However, many creatives, organizers, and businesses are often overlooked in the telling or production of these stories, Yarbrough said. 

The 26-year-old community activist jumped into action.

He started a petition in hopes of hosting a public screening and extending an invitation to Coogler, the cast, and the creative team “to walk the streets your vision reimagined, to meet the people whose real stories echo through every frame, and to experience firsthand the living, breathing legacy that inspired your work and the people who are sustaining and reimagining its future.”

Less than 24 hours since Yarbrough started a petition, more than 400 people have signed it. Additionally, folks like Matthew Cherry, an Academy Award winning filmmaker and director of Hair Love, and Hannah Beachler — the first Black person to win an Academy Award for Best Production Design, and who worked on Creed, Black Panther, and Sinners — have reshared the post, which has garnered more than 30,000 views.

In a phone call, Yarbrough also mentioned the idea of holding a public forum with the Sinners team with other creatives, residents, and farmers who are working toward revitalizing the Mississippi Delta. This investment could empower local folks to tell their own stories and benefit the community economically, residents say.

People with resources and power should be intentional about creating opportunities and giving back to communities in meaningful, tangible ways, said Jasmine Williams, founder of digital storytelling platform Sipp Talk and a resident of Jackson, Mississippi. She mentioned the possibilities of hosting workshops or youth convening on filmmaking, in addition to a screening. 

As one resident put it: “If you’re going to be talking about Mississippi, bring some money to Mississippi.”

At the very least, Yarbrough said he believes this could serve as a homecoming for Sinners, and other Black Americans, to return “home.”

“There needs to be a coming home to these Black creators who are making these million-dollar films and being connected with our folks on the ground,” he said. “I think it’s deeply important. And I think not only is it important for the folks who live here, but also for just Black America to like, really come home.”