The 89th Academy Awards defied the current political atmosphere of Islamic scrutiny as Muslim, Mahershala Ali won for Best Supporting Actor for Moonlight and Best Foreign Film went to The Salesman a movie from Iran.
This is a strong turn of events after last year's #OscarsSoWhite epidemic.
Ali took the stage and thanked his teachers and professors, the director and crew of Moonlight and his wife for carrying on through the award season during her third trimester and mentioned his newborn daughter.
The reaction from social media is astounding as people are jumped out of their seats with excitement and praise that a black Muslim won an Oscar.
Ali's Oscar wasn't the only big moment of the night. Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi won for Best Foreign Picture for his movie The Salesman. He boycotted the Oscars due to Trump's immigration ban and instead requested Iranian-American engineer Anousheh Ansari to accept the award on his behalf and read from a letter he wrote.
“I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight,” Farhadi's letter read. “My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of the other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S."
Watch the full speech below:
All in all, it was a great night at the Oscars for acceptance.