NEW YORK, NY – Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, issued the following statement in response to announcement of the nominees for the 89th Academy Awards.

Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of Color Of Change:

“In an extraordinary turnaround after two years of #OscarsSoWhite, the Academy today nominated a field of accomplished Black actors, directors, screenwriters, and others for the industry’s highest honor. To its credit, the Academy has put a spotlight on several under recognized Black actors, directors, and writers and also elevated a diverse range of stories about Black Americans, from a powerful meditation on race and the criminal justice system in 13th to the coming of age of a young Black man in Miami in Moonlight.

“It is undoubtedly promising that the Academy has heard demands from Black Americans and our supporters to recognize the incredible work being done by Black film professionals. But, ultimately, it shouldn’t be extraordinary to see Oscar nominations that reflect the diversity of our country. It should be entirely ordinary.

“Achieving this diversity is not the responsibility of the Academy alone. That responsibility also lies with casting directors, studio executives, and financial backers who have a moral responsibility to support projects that tell authentic, compassionate stories that reflect the diversity of our country and to offer opportunities on screen and behind the scenes to Black film professionals, as well as Latino, Asian American, and Native American film professionals, who also remain severely under recognized and underrepresented in Hollywood.”