Jada Pinkett Smith praises diverse Oscars nominations

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith has praised The Academy for representing more black stars with the nominations for the 2017 Oscars.
The 45-year-old actress and her "Suicide Squad" actor husband Will Smith joined a range of celebrities in protesting against the apparent lack of diversity amongst the Academy Award nominations for 2016, but she has been blown away by the representation of black stars in this year's shortlist, reported Variety.
"I feel really fantastic. It's a beautiful thing to see. We had a lot of exceptional films this year. I'm glad to see that protects like 'Hidden Figures', 'Fences' and 'Moonlight' are getting recognition. I'm very proud this morning," Jada said.

The "Magic Mike XXL" star feels it is more important than ever before for artists to use their status to express how they want to Hollywood to be "identified" especially with the election of President Donald Trump.
"Because of the state that this country is in, as artists it's so important we use our platform to help shine light on how we want to be identified as a country.
"I look at this beautiful step towards that. Just our participation as artists in this time of how went want to represent our country, what is the messaging we want the world to see.

"As artists we have strong voices. We create strong imagery in regards to the identity of our country. It's important that we take responsibility for that.