Yes! Thank you to the Academy for this incredible recognition. It doesn’t escape me for onemoment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s. And so I wantto salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance. And for Solomon, thank you for telling her storyand your own.
Steve McQueen, you charge everything you fashion with a breath of your own spirit. Thank youso much for putting me in this position, it’s been the joy of my life. [Tears, applause.] I’mcertain that the dead are standing about you and watching and they are grateful and so am I.
Chiwetel, thank you for your fearlessness and how deeply you went into Solomon, tellingSolomon’s story. Michael Fassbender, thank you so much. You were my rock. Alfre and Sarah, itwas a thrill to work with you. Joe Walker, the invisible performer in the editing room, thankyou. Sean Bobbitt, Kalaadevi, Adruitha, Patty Norris, thank you, thank you, thank you — I couldnot be here without your work.
I want to thank my family, for your training [laughs] and the Yale School of Drama as well, foryour training. My friends the Wilsons, this one’s for you. My brother Junior sitting by my side,thank you so much, you’re my best friend and then my other best friend, my chosen family.
When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matterwhere you’re from, your dreams are valid. Thank you.
