An emotional and grateful Michael B. Jordan won the Oscar for best actor on Sunday night, and praised Black trailblazers who came before him.
Jordan picked up the award for his performance as brothers Smoke and Stack in Sinners.
After hearing his name announced as the winner, the actor kissed his mother, hugged his co-star Delroy Lindo, and embraced Ryan Coogler, who wrote and directed the vampire thriller.
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Jordan, 39, is just the sixth Black man to win the best actor Oscar after Sidney Poitier in Lillies of the Field (1963); Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001); Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004); Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006); and Will Smith in King Richard (2021).
With history on his mind, the actor thanked the “giants” who paved the way for his win, including Halle Berry who is the only Black woman to take home the best actress Oscar (Monster’s Ball released in 2001).
“I stand here because of the people that came before me — Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith,” he said. “To be up amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys, thank you everybody in this room and everybody at home supporting me over my career.”
Jordan paid tribute to his family, and said his father flew in from Ghana to attend the ceremony.
He praised his co-stars, and thanked Warner Bros. executives for believing in Coogler’s “vision” and “betting on the culture.”
The actor singled out Coogler, a frequent collaborator, for developing an original idea for a film, and giving the actor the “space to be seen.”
As he stood on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Jordan received a standing ovation from the audience, including his fellow nominees in the category.
Jordan was up against Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme; Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another; Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon; and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent.
Long before launching a successful film career, Jordan had a small role on The Sopranos, and played child drug dealer Wallace on the first season of The Wire in 2002.
After his character was killed in the HBO crime drama, he landed a role on All My Children and appeared in 58 episodes of the daytime drama.
The Santa Ana, California native first worked with Coogler on the 2013 biographical drama, Fruitvale Station, about Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer.
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