Lupita Nyong'o has written a stirring tribute to her late "Black Panther" co-star Chadwick Boseman, calling him a man whose power will "reverberate for generations."
"I write these words from a place of hopelessness, to honor a man who had great hope," the actress writes in the message posted to her socialmediaaccounts Tuesday, 11 days after Boseman's death from colon cancer at age 43. "The news of his passing is a punch to my gut every morning."
Nyong'o, who played Nakia opposite Boseman's T'Challa in the blockbuster 2018 film, says she was struck by his "quiet, powerful presence" and an energy that seemed immortal which manifested itself through his carefully chosen words.
"He used his mouth to build, to edify, never to break," she writes. "And he used is to tell some regrettably lame dad jokes."
She says Boseman "cared so much about humanity, about Black people, about his people" and that "his power lives on and will reverberate for generations to come."
Civil rights groups call on major corporations to stick with DEI programs
A broad group of civil rights organizations called on the CEOs and board members of major companies Thursday to maintain their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack online and in lawsuits.
An open letter signed by 19 organizations and directed at the leaders of Fortune 1000 companies said companies that abandon their DEI programs are shirking their fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers and shareholders.
The civil rights groups included the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, the League of United Latin American Citizens, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
"Diversity, equity and inclusion programs, policies, and practices make business-sense and they're broadly popular among the public, consumers, and employees," their statement read. "But a small, well-funded, and extreme group of right-wing activists is attempting to pressure companies into abandoning their DEI programs."
Companies such as Ford, Lowes, John Deere, Molson Coors and Harley-Davidson recently announced they would pull back on their diversity, equity and inclusion policies after facing pressure from conservative activists who were emboldened by recent victories in the courtroom.
Many major corporations have been examining their diversity programs in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last year that declared race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions unconstitutional. Dozens of cases have been filed making similar arguments about employers. Critics of DEI programs say the initiatives provide benefits to people of one race or sexual orientation while excluding others.
In their letter, the civil rights organizations, which also included... Read More