Equality issues dominated the 87th Academy Awards with winners Alejandro G Inarritu, Patricia Arquette, Common, John Ledend and Graham Moore calling for for women, gay, immigrant and African-American rights in their impassioned speeches.
Arquette, who took to stage to accept her best supporting actress win, reminded everyone that equality for women was still a dream.
"To every woman who gave birth, to every tax payer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It is our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America," Arquette said as fellow nominee Meryl Streep gave her a standing ovation from the audience.
Inarritu lauded the Academy, which has faced considerable flak for being all white, for awarding the best director trophy to a Mexican director second year in a row but also called for better immigration laws for his countrymen in the US.
"And the ones that live in this country, who are part of the latest generation of immigrants, I just pray that they can be treated with the same dignity and respect as the ones who came before and built this incredible immigrant nation," he said in his speech.
'Glory' musicians John Legend and Common left many in the audience teary eyed with their performance and acceptance speech following their best song win for "Selma".
"Recently, John and I got to go to Selma and perform 'Glory' on the same bridge that Dr King and the people of the civil rights movement marched on 50 years ago. This bridge was once a landmark of a divided nation but now is a symbol for change. The spirit of this bridge transcends race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and social status," Common said.
Legend said: "The Voting Rights Act that they fought for 50 years ago is being compromised right now, in this country, today. We know that right now, the struggle for freedom and justice is real.
