As we all nervously wait to see if we can reverse the curse of #OscarsSoWhite at the Oscars 2017 awards on Sunday, EBONY and iTunes Movies got together on Thursday in West Hollywood to celebrate Black storytellers who are ever so deserving of Academy recognition.

Raoul Peck, director of I Am Not Your Negro; Kimberly Steward, producer of Manchester by the Sea and the incredible Joi McMillon, editor of Moonlight all received commemorative plaques and love from a packed crowd that included Kofi Siriboe, LaKeith Stanfield, Nicole Murphy, Tracey Edmonds and many more.  Read the recap HERE and see photos of the beautiful people RIGHT HERE.

Thanks to Variety for falling through and naming our soiree one of the best pre-Oscars events in town.

See what it was like at our affair and hear remarks from our EBONY Media Operations Chairman Emeritus Linda Johnson Rice and EBONY Editor-in-Chief Kyra Kyles in this exclusive video.