Celebrities Skip Oscars To Support Justice For Flint

The water contamination crisis in Flint, Mich. has left tens of thousands children exposed to high levels of lead and possibly caused the death of 10 people from Legionnaires' disease. In support of the Flint citizens, a number of Hollywood stars skipped the glamorous Academy Awards to attend the #JUSTICEFORFLINT benefit.

Comedian Hannibal Buress hosted the event presented by Blackout for Human Rights, a network of concerned artists, activists, filmmakers, musicians and citizens who commit their energy and resources to immediately address the staggering level of human rights violations against fellow Americans throughout the United States. The group's founder, "Creed" director Ryan Coogler, organized the event that also included attendance by "Selma" director Ava DuVernay, actor Jesse Williams and performances by Janelle Monae and Stevie Wonder.

"With the #JUSTICEFORFLINT benefit event we will give a voice to the members of the community who were the victims of the choices of people in power who are paid to protect them, as well as provide them with a night of entertainment, unity, and emotional healing," Coogler told Buzzfeed News in a statement.

Revolt.tv provided a live-stream of the free and public event from the Whiting Auditorium in Flint, Mich. Benefit organizers invited members of the community to share their stories and aimed to raise at least $100,000 in donated funds, which would go to youth programs in Flint.

DuVernay tweeted on Sunday night that 3022 activist donated for a total of $122,000 raised. By late Monday night, the total had raised almost to $150,000 and people can still donate by texting JUSTICE to 83224.

The conflict with the Oscars date was not a response to the lack of diverse nominations at this year's ceremony. Coogler chose Feb. 28 because it was the final weekend of Black History Month. Other #JusticeForFlint attendees included "Empire" star Jussie Smollett, "Limitless" star Hill Harper, columnist Jamilah Lemieux and musicians Ledisi, Musiq Soulchild, Jazmine Sullivan, Robert Glasper, Vic Mensa, Dej Loaf and Royce Da 5'9.

Sean Diddy Combs, Audra McDonald and Tracie Thoms also showed their support tweeting and donating.

Tags

Flint, Ava DuVernay, Oscars, Black History Month