Daniel Kaluuya had words of praise for the Black Panther Party during his Oscars acceptance speech on Sunday.
Kaluuya, who won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Marxist-Leninist activist Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah, said the controversial black nationalist organization “showed [him] how to love [him]self.”
“To Chairman Fred Hampton, bro, man, man, what a man. What a man. How blessed we are that we lived in a lifetime where he existed? Do you know what I’m saying?” he asked. “Like, thank you for your life. … He showed me. He taught me. Him, Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party, they showed me how to love myself, and with that love, they overflowed it to the black community and to other communities.”
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The Oscar winner also thanked his parents for having created him by having sex, a remark that prompted a look of confusion from his mother, who was seated in the audience.
In the biographical film, Hampton becomes chairman of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party, which was founded by Newton and Seale in 1966. FBI informant Bill O’Neale infiltrates the group and grows close to Hampton, who uses oratory skills, community outreach, and alliances with rival gangs and militia groups to advance the group’s goals at the height of the civil rights movement.
Kaluuya’s speech was not the only one to get political early in the night. When presenting the award for best supporting actor, Laura Dern, who won best supporting actress in 2020, praised the nominees for presenting audiences with “themes of equity and social justice.”
Travon Free, who won the Oscar for best short film along with Martin Desmond Roe, asked listeners not to “be indifferent to our pain” after saying that police kill an average of three people every day.
“Those people happen to be disproportionately black people … so I just ask that you please not be indifferent. Please don’t be indifferent to our pain,” he said.
Actress Regina King’s opening remarks also veered into current events, with the presenter saying that she “may have traded in [her] heels for marching boots” if “things had gone differently this past week in Minneapolis,” an apparent reference to a Minnesota jury convicting former police officer Derek Chauvin of the murder of George Floyd.
“Now, I know that a lot of you people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you, but as a mother of a black son, I know the fear that so many live with, and no amount of fame or fortune changes that,” she continued.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died last May after he was arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill. Chauvin was seen placing his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe.
Chauvin, a 45-year-old white man, was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death and could face up to 40 years behind bars. The judge announced that his sentencing trial would take place in eight weeks.
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Sunday evening’s Oscars made history with its slate of nominees. The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony marked the first time two actors of Asian descent were nominated for best actor, the first time an all-black producing team was nominated for best picture, and the first time two women were nominated for best director.
In addition to Kaluuya’s victory, Ann Roth became the oldest woman to earn an Oscar, winning the award for best costume design at the age of 89, and Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson became the first black winners in the category of best makeup and hairstyling.
