An Open Letter to Ava Duvernay & Genevieve Nnaji

Dear @ava and @GenevieveNnaji1,

Thank you for your support of the first film out of Nigeria that made us so proud that we wanted to submit it to @TheAcademy! I am a fan of both of your work. 13th & When they see us were revolutionary films, and growing up as a young Igbo girl in America, Genevieve Nnaji was a name that allowed me to point to my fatherland with pride. My family watched the film #Lonheart as my elder sister braided my mother's hair and my niece played in the background and it was a thing of pride for 3 generations that began in the Biafran war to watch images of ourselves, and pictures of our culture reflected among the biggest streaming platforms in the world @netflix. HOWEVER, as proud as I am proud that we have a movie that came out of Nollywood that we are proud enough to submit for Oscar Nomination. I believe we are capable of making a movie just as good next year using any one of the many native languages spoken in Nigeria. This is a great opportunity for us to push against dangerous colonial vestiges and show the world that Black cultures matter, and Black languages matter. Let us not fight this fight, because it is a fight against ourselves at the end of the day. There are billions of non-English speaking Blacks in Africa who need a voice. And I pray that you, Ms. Duvernay & Ms. Nnaji, two powerful women with highly respected, visible and influential platforms don't push too hard on this. Let The Academy keep the rule as it stands. Because if you win this battle it further silences billions of marginalized Black people. And sets Africa back centuries. Please, hear me on this. I have an will always be a loyal fan. I just hope you understand where I am coming from.

With love and sincerity,

Udochi Okeke.