Ava DuVernay Is a Director of Change We Should All Be Following

Award-winning director Ava DuVernay is enacting positive changes and reforms for racial equality.

DuVernay is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker and director making waves in the film industry, producing powerful portrayals of Black lives in films such as Selma and the Netflix series 13th. In 2012, she made history with her film Middle of Nowhere, becoming the first Black woman to win the directing award in the U.S. drama category at the Sundance Film Festival.

While she may spend her time behind the camera, Ava is a prominent advocate for racial equality. Following George Floyd’s tragic death last month, she launched The Law Enforcement Accountability Project (LEAP), which tackles police brutality by financing stories spotlighting racially abusive police officers. Earlier this week, she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to explain how “police invisibility interferes with police accountability.”

Her work doesn’t stop there. Ava has long promoted creative enterprises for minority groups through persistent charity work. Her non-profit film collective ARRAY, which amplifies the work of people of color and women, has helped tackled discrimination in the film industry by giving female directors of all backgrounds well-deserved recognition.

More recently, she has been a powerful loudspeaker for anti-discriminatory action, supporting the Black Lives Matter movement by unapologetically calling for justice over the recent deaths of Black civilians on Twitter and Instagram.

Now, more than ever, it’s time to take lead from amazing women like Ava. By showing our support for the Black Lives Matter movement, we all have the power to affect change and diminish racial inequality.