The filmmaker attended the gathering on Tuesday at the Staples Center and emphasized that no matter the result of this race, the fight toward rights will continue.
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay spoke on Tuesday at a Black Lives Matter election day event at Staples Center, where she encouraged attendees to cast their votes in the 2020 election.
“Thank you for holding space for this resistance, for this power, for this voice, for demonstrating who we are, that we can proclaim what we want, that we can exercise rights that are given to us and rights that we take that are not given to us, that we can declare what we want,” said the filmmaker, wearing a face mask.
She continued to say, “This moment is not an end all be all. This vote, this election is not even the half of what is ahead of us and what needs to happen tomorrow and the next day and the next day. But it is a tool, it is a weapon in our arsenal and we are going to fight. We are in a war.”
The Selma filmmaker thanked everyone for attending the gathering and emphasized that tomorrow, we will “keep loving each other” and moving forward with goals.
As of this writing, the result of the 2020 election is still unclear, with battleground states of North Carolina and Florida still indeterminate. Staples Center was one of many Los Angeles landmarks that turned into a polling center on Tuesday, along with Dodgers Stadium, Universal CityWalk, Magic Castle and the Hollywood Pantages Theater.