Michael B. Jordan is calling on Hollywood to take actionable steps in the fight for racial justice.
At a Black Lives Matter protest organized by Hollywood talent agencies this weekend, the “Black Panther” actor took the mic and passionately urged those calling the shots in the industry to divest from law enforcement and invest in hiring black staff.
“We’re in the heart of Hollywood right now, one of the world’s most powerful industries, and I’m an active member of that. They need to go on notice,” Michael said. “I’ve dedicated my production company to an inclusion rider, but it has to go beyond that. To the brands that support me, to productions, to the studios, to all the businesses and partnerships that I have: if you have any financial ties to police, we have to re-look at our business.”
“Anybody that deals with me, if you have racist beliefs, if you have a racist bone in your body, if you’re not with me, if you don’t stand with me and people that look like me, then you don’t need to be with me,” he added. “And that’s point-blank, period.”
Michael also urged that Hollywood “invest in black staff.” “I use my power to demand diversity, but it’s time the studios and the agencies [do the same],” he said. “You committed to a 50/50 agenda of [gender] parity in 2020. Where is the challenge to commit to black hiring? Black content lead by black executors, black consultants. Are you policing our storytelling as well? Let us bring our darkness to the light.”
The “Creed II” star also used his time behind the mic to reflect on the four characters he played that impacted his life the most, including Guy Montag, the fireman “thirsting for knowledge” at the center of “Fahrenheit 451.”
“A producer in that movie made me really realize the lengths that the government and oppressors will go to keep knowledge out of your hands,” Michael reflected. “They know that if we unlock this up here that we’ll be unstoppable, and they’re scared of that.”
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View GalleryMichael also looked back on portraying Oscar Grant, the real-life 22-year-old who was killed by a BART police officer at a train station in Oakland, Calif., in 2009.
“I had the opportunity to embody who he was,” he said. “I got the opportunity to feel the pain of his family, of his daughter, of his mother. I lived with that for a really long time, and it weighs on you.”