*Effie Brown, the African American Hollywood producer whom Matt Damon famously tried to lecture on diversity, believes that women and people of color have contributed in part to their own discrimination in the industry.
“Somehow, we co-signed this. Somehow, we participated,” she said Monday at the annual Women at Sundance brunch, according to Page Six.
Brown, whose exchange with Damon from HBO’s “Project Greenlight” made national headlines, encouraged the women in attendance to acknowledge their own unconscious bias and “blind spots.” She said those who are not taking action against the status quo are actually supporting its continuance.
She reportedly urged everyone in the room to “hire, mentor and invest” in women and people of color. According to Page Six, Brown’s stand “was echoed by every speaker at the invitation-only event, including Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley and actor/director/producer Elizabeth Banks.”
“Women make up half the population and people of color make up 40 percent,” Brown said. “There is no such thing as innocent by-standing anymore.
“Our voice is powerful. We are a force of nature,” she added. “There’s nothing more fierce on God’s green earth than a woman with her mind made up.”
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