After the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor sparked outrage and protests across the world; many people, especially in Hollywood, rushed to stand in solidarity with the protestors and the Black Lives Matter Movement and called for change within the entertainment industry. Now, Michael B. Jordan is putting that change to action.
The Just Mercy and Black Panther actor recently teamed up with Color of Change, a non-profit civil rights advocacy organization, to launch the #ChangeHollywood initiative. In a press release given to The Hollywood Reporter, the initiative “provides concrete steps that can be taken by studios, production companies and agencies to invest in anti-racist content, authentic Black stories and Black talent.”
“This roadmap is just the beginning of the journey to racial justice. We are all accomplices in the fight to transform Hollywood, and we invite content creators and industry leaders to join us in working together to #ChangeHollywood,” says Jordan, who is also the CEO of Outlier Society. “We look forward to including a variety of voices in doing what we do best: telling authentic stories, bringing people together, partnering with influential artists, and changing the rules of the game.”
In 2018, Jordan’s production company, Outlier Society, began using inclusion riders (a clause in a contract that makes diversity the rule rather than the exception) for all of its projects. Soon after, Jordan worked with WarnerMedia to establish a new companywide policy to increase diversity and inclusion.
“The legacy of racism in Hollywood is long and unforgivable: excluding Black talent, silencing Black voices, derailing Black careers, and using the economic power of the industry to prop up police who target and enact violence on Black communities,” said Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change. “We know from our advocacy that the industry won’t change on its own, so we’re building off our current work to hold Hollywood accountable to provide a roadmap to enacting racial justice. From the writers rooms to the streets, we are energized and ready to help Hollywood follow through on their statements that Black lives matter.”
You can find the full roadmap here
