As a wave of peaceful protests coursed through Los Angeles on Saturday, actor Michael B. Jordan urged Hollywood to “commit to black hiring” at a rally in Century City.
The “Just Mercy” actor called on all those in the entertainment industry, including studios and agencies, to “invest” in black talent. “You committed to a 50/50 gender parity in 2020,” Jordan said. “Where is the challenge to commit to black hiring? Black content led by black executives, black consultants. Are you policing our storytelling as well? Let us bring our darkness to the light.”
Protesting police brutality and racial injustice, he encouraged everyone to speak out and supported all those attending the protest, saying, “we have to be here together.”
“What we are doing today will make our values heard and our voices heard. We’ve got to keep agitating things,” he said. “We can’t be complacent. We can’t let this moment just pass us by, we have to continue to put our foot on their necks.”
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The actor came to prominence in 2013 by portraying Oscar Grant, a young black man needlessly killed in “Fruitvale Station,” and last year starred as justice-seeking attorney Bryan Stevenson in “Just Mercy,” about a wrongfully convicted black man. Both films are based on true stories.
The protest in Century City was organized by Hollywood’s talent agencies.