Netflix is using its power as one of the most recognisable entertainment companies for good. During last year's BET awards, they celebrated the Black creators on the platform with a commercial showcasing their performances, and followed it up with a campaign titled #FirstTimeISawMe to highlight minority representation on screen. Last night, Netflix returned to the BET awards with a message that's more powerful than ever, bringing together all of their nuanced and diverse Black talent for their take on the 1958 A Great Day in Harlem called: A Great Day In Hollywood.
Narrated by Stranger Things' Caleb McLaughlin and featuring people like Ava DuVernay (13th, Central Park Five), Britney Young (GLOW), Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black), Lena Waithe (Master of None; Dear White People; Step Sisters), and Spike Lee (She’s Gotta Have It), the TV spot boldly declares that this rising moment that Black actors and creatives are having in pop culture is here to stay.
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"We’re not a genre because there’s no one way to be black," McLaughlin says. We’re writing while black. Nuanced and complex. Resilient and Strong. This is NOT a Moment. This is a Movement."
"It was a pretty magical couple of hours," director Lacey Duke said in a statement about the filming experience. "All these amazingly talented, beautiful individuals in one space being supportive and just looking stunning together, all here to pull off this one take wonder! Alfre Woodard even lead everyone in an epic rendition of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ before we started shooting. It was beautiful, and in a flash it was over. It was probably the most overwhelming two hours of my career...I was just so happy to be a part of history."
Watch the important video below: