Mahershala Ali covers the latest issue of GQ, and my God, is this just what I need this week. At first, I didn’t even read the interview, because I just wanted to soak in these beautiful Peggy Sirota photos of a smiling and beautiful man wearing some gorgeous clothes. Mahershala Ali is a big deal now – he navigated the Oscar season with a tremendous amount of heart, humanity, grace and authenticity. He ended up winning the Oscar for his work in Moonlight. And now, several months removed from the process, he’s talking to GQ about what he’s learned and what it was like to be in the middle of all of that. You can read the full GQ piece here. Some highlights:
His sudden “break”: “When suddenly you go from being followed in Barneys to being fawned over, it will mess with your head,” he tells me, leaning over the table. He remembers being on subway trains and seeing people hide their rings from him: “those experiences that you have from age 10, when you start getting these little messages that you are something to be feared.” Even as a celebrity, he’s experienced how the script can always be flipped. “Walking down the street in Berkeley,” he says, “and some cops roll up on you and say straight up, ‘Give me your ID,’ and you’re like, ‘What the f–k?’”
How he feels about white people celebrating him: “[Is it] a way to relieve pressure for people? Like a kind of peace offering? I accept it as a possibility. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that’s what it is.… As long as what you’re doing as an artist is resonating with people, I’m not as concerned about if that’s convoluted or not by their own prejudices, because at the end of the day you gotta accept people on their terms.”His Islamic faith: “It benefits me from the standpoint of really creating empathy for these characters that I try to embody, other human beings with issues as deep and personal as my own. Because of Islam, I am acutely aware that I am a work in progress.” The daily practice of the religion, he says, “puts a healthy pressure on you to be your best self, beginning with your own spirit and how that feeds into your actions.”
African-Americans and patriotism: “I think African-Americans have a very convoluted relationship with patriotism. The fact is, we essentially were the abused child. We still love the parent, but you can’t overlook the fact that we have a very convoluted relationship with the parent. I absolutely love this country, but like so many people have some real questions and concerns about how things have gone down over the years and where we’re at. And that’s from a place of love, because I want the country to be what it says it is on paper. I sincerely believe we have the capacity to actually make this country great. There are enough people, there are enough believers out there, there are enough intelligent, empathetic souls out there that want good for the whole. I don’t know if it’ll happen in my lifetime, but I believe in time the pendulum will swing in the right direction.”
His repetition of the phrase “fold into yourself.” “I think I identify with characters who have to make themselves smaller. Because that’s been my experience, as a large black man, to make people feel safer. Just because I always found….witnessing other people’s discomfort made me uncomfortable. And at the end of the day, it’s a lot of b.s., too. Sometimes you gotta be like, ‘Eff that.’ ”
God, I just love him. What a man. He’s interesting, precise, thoughtful, compassionate, beautiful, spiritual, self-aware and amazing. And I feel like crying because – as the GQ writer points out – there are so many people in this country and in this world who will just see him as “a scary black man” or attribute him with certain qualities because of his skin and his religion. “I think African-Americans have a very convoluted relationship with patriotism.” Exactly. Because their American experience is so different, so weighted with a different kind of history and a different kind of hope.
Photos courtesy of Peggy Sirota for GQ.
I can’t wait to see what he does next as an actor.
I would love to see him do like Kareem Abdul-Jabar (and to an extent, Chris Rock) and start writing articles and op-eds. I genuinely want to hear more about what he thinks of the world.
SO MUCH YES. Ha.
This is one of the reasons I hate when people borderline worship the founding fathers. Very intelligent individuals, but they were with their faults. The least of which was slavery. While I believe that people in the past shouldn’t be wholly judged by today’s today’s standards, I also believe that line is used far too often to casually dismiss serious stains on someone’s character.
We studied the founding fathers in a political science class (in The Netherlands for context) and what I found interesting in their discours about the constitution is that they realized future generations needed room to improve the constitution because the world would evolve and changes would be needed. Slavery and equality being one of those things some of the founding fathers expected future changes in. I always think about this when your second amendment fanatics wax on about the constitution.
Good point, I have always liked to think the founding fathers would be rolling in their graves to see what’s happened with the second amendment. But who knows.
It’s almost as if they don’t understand the word ‘amendment’ because it’s too bigly. Sad.
Yes. The New Yorker had an interesting piece a few weeks ago about the revolutionary war and pointed out how this country could perhaps have been more like a social-democratic Canada or Australia had the founding fathers not been slaveholders who revolted. It’s interesting to think about, that we could have possibly avoided the civil war, that we are somehow destined for violence given our brutal founding.
That’s an interesting point. When I went to Philadelphia and visited the house where they signed the Declaration of Independence the tour guide pointed out how two issues were very divisive so the founding fathers put them to the side at the time: slavery and women having the right to vote. Some men wouldn’t sign the Declaration of Independence if slavery was outlawed and some men wouldn’t sign it if women were allowed to vote. From the very beginning, this country has dealt with the “issue” of women and/or slaves and perhaps that’s why we never became a social-democratic nation.
Australia was very violent from when the settlers arrived too, and we did enslave indigenous people. I feel it’s not so much violence that led America to now but the idea that one man and his rights are so inalienable that it’s preferable to go to war than compromise. The civil war is a good thing so far as slavery but it highlights an ongoing commonality I see in American attitudes which is ‘I am sovereign and I will fight for what I want even if it is detrimental to the common good. If I receive it I did so because I am clearly a better person. Others who get nothing do not deserve what I have because they are obviously not as good as me – even though I am the one instrumental in taking it from them.’
Australians and Canadians have a much better understanding of giving up something for the benefit of others. Although of course there are sections of society who think like the above but they won’t win out.
Also, I don’t think you meant to type it like that, but I don’t think owning slaves and slavery in general was the least of the founding fathers problematic issues.
You’re right, I should have added “among other factors.”
I was responding to HH, the OP 😉
I grew up in a tiny town in the South and yes, you very much got the feeling that the 4th of July was for Americans…and you.
That is one beautiful man. Inside and out.
And that smile … swoon.
the smile! he has such a lovely, warming smile.
Yup! ITA 100%
Gorgeous!
Yep he nailed it. Also this guy is so beautiful inside and out.
And he posted a picture with his daughter the other day that made me melt. Ugh he’s a good one
A friend once told me that as a large black man he had to go out of his way to be jolly to avoid being perceived as scary. Racism is so ugly.
Yes. Even more frightening is hearing the fears of my friend, who is the mom of three young black mean, how afraid she is that they will be shot and killed by police just for being who they are. Living in a state of high alert isn’t healthy, mentally or physically. It’s heartbreaking.
I first noticed him in House of Cards and then Luke Cage. In both shows he was the standout. His screen presence is hard to match even for someone like Kevin Spacey. Respect.
Yes. My husband and I also thought he was a standout in HOUSE OF CARDS! So happy for his success.
I totally agree with you both. He’s the only one you can see in a scene. A commanding presence and a fantastic actor as well. And so damn handsome & sexy!
+1
Kevin Spacey chews scenery in House of Cards. Mahershala Ali fully lives his character and therefore isn’t demanding your full attention. It feels more like he EARNS your full attention rather than throwing a fit to get it. I was always riveted by his performance.
Very thoughtful commentary on patriotism. Love doesn’t mean you have to overlook the deep flaws, it means you try and fix those flaws and hope to hell the country evolves.
He is so damn handsome. Also, I love the photography and the Catalina setting. So many photographers either want that serious stare or for women to pout with their mouth slightly open….instead this is a beautiful, happy, relaxed vibe.
yes, and since i had only seen him in his serious roles (also e.g. Hidden Figures), i love seeing him smile and letting him loose in these pics.
There is a depth to this man that he brings to whatever character he’s playing and makes those characters feel so real. Hope he will get lots of chances to let his talent shine.
Such a beautiful man. More Mahershala, please.
i like what he says about trying not to make people uncomfortable, as a man. that’s very self-aware and even though the reason he feels this way is a bit sad, to put it this way, we need more of that awareness. not getting into the race aspect, but all types of men asserting dominance by making women feel uncomfortable is something i encounter on a daily basis. it only occurred to me recently that it’s not male inattentiveness to social cues but a calculated power move, plain and simple. whether telling inappropriate jokes in a work- situation or embarassing a complete stranger on public transport, it happens all the time and it is very hard to get out of these situations with your dignity intact.
Dude looks good in shirts. <3
KAiser
Thank you for providing his full quotes , his take on AA relationship with America is profound and nuanced. I have seen other news outlets disengenouly distill his word into the Headline ” African Americans are not Patriotic “???? . CAn you believe it ??? Anything for clicks I guess
THanks For the honest reporting
Yes-thank you. I’m sure my friends who watch Fox have a totally different perspective on this article.
That quote likening them to abused children broke my heart.
Yes–these words broke my heart, too: they seem so true. My American husband is biracial (black/white) and he’s often said things to me to that effect. (I’m not American, I’m Russian, and I’ve learned so much about this nation’s many, varied and often concealed histories from him!) He talks of how his relationship w this country is simply not that of white Americans: how could it be? His people were taken here in literal chains, and have remained in some sort of metaphorical chains ever since. The U.S. is his home, and he loves it, but he has been hurt and scarred by his home, too. Can people “purely” love a parent that has abused and rejected and not protected them, as well? No, but they can love it–and passionately, also, for anger is not always contradictory to love, and if love is strong enough to bear hurt and rage, too, then it will–as nothing else can. My husband sees it as a prolonged process of healing, what he and his country are still moving through, together…the wounds go deep, but the veins of fresh hope are there, as well, and the regenerative flesh.
Of course he is right and no one can argue with his statement. Its part of history no one should ever forget.
That being said, i am sorry that we are still facing rasicm and other evil isms. It is a duty of every person with a brain to speak up.
Love him. This interview! SO much love.
Every time I see him I reflexively sing in my head that Salt-N-Pepa song, “What a man, what a man, what a man, What a mighty good man. Gotta say it again now”
I just love everything about this man….especially the value he places on his life with his wife and child. This country needs more men like him – and I need just one!
mmm MMM MMMM COME ON COME THROUGH KING!! He looks like a Snack but then when you couple that with the fact that he is Speaking FACTS! ( which hopefully ya’ll will listen this time, it being a man and all – A la When Hannibal Burress told everyone what 15-16 Women had been saying for over 30 years?) but this is EXACTLY what many many many people of Color tried tell you you all about sitting for the anthem and what this is about, This is exactly what I Marveled about with Leslie Jones… Barack and Michelle.. Serena… Lebron.. Colin…. to have that kind of Love and devotion and need to serve and cheer for a Country that tells you often in the most Sh*ttiest,vulgar, overt, justice free ways that it doesn’t love or respect you or that you are less than AND STILL wanting to do that same country Proud??? That’s love and patriotism and devotion I for one will probably never have.
P.S.: Its still now and forever sitting down time for the Anthem for this here girl, KNOW that
All of that, QQ. All of it.
And I have to repeat- He looks like a snack.
Now you KNOW that man is a full course meal!
But yes, who want to give their whole hearted allegiance to a country that has time and time again told you and shown you that they hate you?
Peggy Sirota should take all the pictures all the time.
firstly, my gawd, that smile could melt butter.
megawatt smile.
but more importantly I completely cosign this^ “I think I identify with characters who have to make themselves smaller. Because that’s been my experience, as a large black man, to make people feel safer. Just because I always found….witnessing other people’s discomfort made me uncomfortable.”
This is my experience in a nut shell, only being a large black woman, with “resting bitch face” or so I have been told (only by white women), by people who before they got to know me, feared me, were intrigued by me, but avoided me because they thought I was scary or a bitch. Those who actually had a conversation with me and got to know me, loved me, and some even apologize after the fact for misjudging me.
I know it won’t happen in my lifetime, but I know we are capable of more, as a people, as a race, the human race. we are capable of trust without fear. we just have to get there, I hope beyond hope that my daughter will live to see that.
Your comment is so so on point. Wow.
“Because of Islam, I am acutely aware that I am a work in progress.” The daily practice of the religion, he says, “puts a healthy pressure on you to be your best self, beginning with your own spirit and how that feeds into your actions.”
He put my own thoughts and feelings into words better than I ever could. I love love LOVE him.
Nothing he has said is new but I appreciate him saying it. Reminds me of James Baldwin’s ‘The Fire Next Time’. There is an essay he in it dedicated to his brother on the 100th anniversary of the emancipation. I encourage those who have not read Baldwin to look at this nuanced essay.
Also just want to say as a Black Canadian (Descended from Slaves out of the diaspora), I also have solidarity with The Aboriginals in my country. It hasn’t always been great for me in Canada as a minority but my goodness what I witness in the attitudes towards Aboriginals is beyond common decency. It does remind me of how Black American’s are treated.
At University I became friends with a lot of Aboriginals (it is actually the first time I ever met Aboriginals or First Nations because again the Government has most of them on reserves) and they really put things into perspective about Canada’s treatment of them. There is so much the school system just downright ignores and covers up. My friend recently told me about mass graves found at residential school sites and her always talks about the high rate of poverty and suicide on her reserve. This stuff rarely makes the news.
My friends get a second graduation that highlights their culture and people on campus always complain about how it is unfair. They complain that the University now acknowledges that we are on traditional land because it is ‘white erasure’ and all about making white’s look bad. These people have weak stomachs if they cannot acknowledge what is the truth.
There has been such gross erasure of Aboriginals in Canadian History and I know many of my friends that they will not be celebrating Canada’s 150 because to celebrate means to celebrate the genocide and erasure of their people and you know what they are right. So in solidarity, I also will not be partaking in such celebrations. I am gonna talk the talk and walk the walk.
These patriotic days are only truly meant for a certain type of American or Canadian anyways. When you aren’t white in my experience no matter how long your family has been in these countries, you are never really considered a part of the club.
after watching the philando castile dashboard cam video. i really needed this interview and photoshoot of this hopeful/happy black man in my life
That video was truly distressing and sad. Misguided and racist comments from the verdict just played in my head as I read about the video while gritting my teeth. I weep my for my black son, step-sons, and husband.