Mahershala Ali has won Best Supporting Actor at the 2017 Academy Awards for his role in Moonlight, the Barry Jenkins-directed film about a gay black man growing up in a rough Miami neighborhood.
“I want to thank my teachers, my professors. I had so many wonderful teachers. One thing that they consistently told me [...] that is wasn’t about you, it’s not about you, it’s about these characters," the 43-year-old actor said. "You are in service to these stories and these characters, and I’m so blessed to have had an opportunity. It was about Juan, it was about Chiron, it was about Paula, cast and crew. It was just such a wonderful experience. [...] The rest of the cast, who did wonderful work, any one of them could be up here holding this trophy [...] Lastly, I just want to thank my wife, who was in her third trimester during the awards season. We just had a daughter four days ago. I just want to thank her for being such a soldier during this process."
Ali is the first Muslim to take home an Oscar in the awards show history. You watch his moving speech in the video above, and check out Twitter's reaction to the historic win below.
