Actor Daveed Diggs, an Oakland native who won a Tony for his role in the Broadway show “Hamilton,” has received this year’s Freedom of Expression Award from the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee introduced Diggs on Thursday at the city’s Piedmont Theatre, where he received the award and screened his new film, “Magic Hour.” Diggs is “more than a performer,” Lee said. “He’s a truth teller and bridge builder between communities. At a time when free expression is under threat, he reminds us that art can restore and reimagine.”
She also presented him with a proclamation declaring July 31 “Daveed Diggs Recognition Day.”
Diggs, whose Jewish mother and Black father were in the audience, acknowledged that “I have never thought of myself as being particularly good at being Jewish, and then I made ‘Puppy for Hanukkah,’” a reference to his wildly popular music video that featured kids rapping and dancing.
Recalling that the Disney Channel called him in December 2020 to ask whether he and his band would create a Hanukkah song, his immediate reaction was no.
“I thought, what’s this going to be, a rap beat with klezmer clarinet? But we sat down, and 30 minutes later we had the whole song,” he said.
Asked whether he made the video to celebrate his Black-Jewish identity, Diggs said he did not.
“We had about six funny ideas about Hanukkah and we put them in the song,” he said. “If you think about the impact of what you’re making, you’ll never make it.”
Diggs said receiving the Freedom of Expression Award from the SFJFF is a “good reminder that my Jewishness is inextricable from my Bay Area-ness. I’ve spoken at Jewish events all over the country, and there’s something incredible about this Bay Area Jewish community. It’s cool to be honored by you.”
Diggs, 43, won national fame playing the roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in “Hamilton” in its original production. He co-wrote, produced and starred in the 2018 film “Blindspotting,” which is set in Oakland.
The Freedom of Expression Award has been presented annually since 2005 by the Jewish Film Institute, which runs the film festival. It “honors the unfettered imagination, which is the cornerstone of a just, free and open society,” according to the film institute. Previous honorees include Kirk Douglas, Norman Lear and Lee Grant.
The film festival wrapped up its 45th year on Sunday with screenings in Oakland and San Francisco.