I’m going to admit, the only Oscar nominated film I saw in 2017 was Get Out, so I wasn’t all the excited to tune into the Oscars this year. But as a chronicler of pop culture for the Meltingpot, I had to tune in to see what went down. Hands down, the most Meltingpot moment of the whole evening was the moving performance by Common and Andra Day. The two sang their Oscar nominated song, “Stand Up for Something,” from the film Marshall, but they decided to do more with their two minutes on stage then just sing.
Common and Day had 10 diverse activists on stage with them, ranging from Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement to Alice Brown Otter from the Standing Rock Youth Council. They were all dressed in black and stood in spotlights behind the two performers, making a very dramatic statement about, well, standing up for something. Check out the video and read this article from Variety to see who the activists on stage were and what they are fighting for.
Then you have to ask yourself, what will you stand up for?
Peace!
