Hollywood is facing a long-overdue reckoning. On the 23rd of June, hundreds of prominent Black actors, artists and executives signed an open letter the demand for measures to be taken to address racial injustice and discrimination within the entertainment industry. The letter, titled Hollywood 4 Black Lives, was drafted by the BLD PWR initiative popular founded by the actor and activist, Kendrick Sampson. Signatories included Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Laverne Cox, Issa Rae, and Zoë Kravitz.
“Hollywood is a privilege as a creative industry to imagine and create. We have a great influence on the culture and politics. We have the ability to use our influence in order to imagine and create a better world. However, historically and currently, Hollywood encourages the epidemic of police violence and the culture of anti-Blackness,” the letter begins, before you call the way popular media continually misrepresents the legal system and glorifies the violence of the police.
The letter went on to outline various systemic issues within the industry, including the lack of representation in the leadership level, the discrimination within the trade unions, and a significant gap in the budgets and marketing campaigns that it offers to a Black-led projects. “The lack of a real commitment with inclusion, and the institutional support has been reinforced by Hollywood’s legacy of white supremacy. This is not only in the narration. It is cultural and systemic, in Hollywood,” it reads. “White people make up the smallest racial population at the global level, however, their stories are seen as internationally universal.”
“Because Hollywood has been a big part of the problem, we demand to be part of the solution.”
The five demands are listed as follows: to dispose of the police, the divestment of anti-Black content, invest in anti-racist content, invest in our careers, and invest in our community. “Because Hollywood has been a big part of the problem, we demand to be part of the solution. We, as Black people, immense, incalculable cultural and economic value to the industry. We are also suffering from the oppression perpetuated by this industry. We have all the right to demand this change,” the letter states. “We know that these changes have the power to change the Black lives in the united states. It is time for Hollywood to recognize their role and take responsibility to repair the damage and be an active member of the change.”
