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"I'm a muslim": Mahershala Ali’s emotional speech at the SAG Awards deserves to be seen

"We see what happens when you persecute people."

"I'm a muslim": Mahershala Ali’s emotional speech at the SAG Awards deserves to be seen
30 January 2017

The SAG Awards took place amongst national and international outcry against Donald Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’, and the state of America’s politics took centre stage in the acceptance speeches.

But while Stranger Things’David Harbour gave an angry yet impassioned speech, Moonlight’s Oscar-nominated Mahershala Ali gave a deeply moving one.

As a Muslim-American, he reminded the audience that celebrating diversity is just as important as accepting difference.

In his intensely smooth voice strained with emotion, he highlighted the importance of Moonlight, a story focused on what happens when people are persecuted.

He pulled on his own story of growing up in a devout Christian household and converting to Islam 17 years ago, using his mother as an example of understanding and compassion toward different faiths, explaining that it was simply a minor detail in their love for each other.

It’s a poignant speech that will leave you with a lump in your throat:

Ali and Harbour weren’t the only ones with something to say.

Julia Louis Dreyfus called the immigration ban a blemish and un-American:

The cast of Hidden Figurescalled for unity and coming together as a human race:

The cast of Orange Is The New Black reminded everyone that we are stronger than what divides us:

Ashton Kutcher passionately gave a shoutout to those stuck in airports because of the immigration ban:

La La Land’s Emma Stone asks for us all to say something and fight for what is “fucking human”:

Meanwhile, William H. Macy took the time to thank Donald Trump: