It also turns out that for Daveed Diggs, life does indeed imitate art. In the 2018 film "Blindspotting," which he co-wrote and starred in, Diggs explored his hometown of Oakland and its racial dynamics. These topics pull from his own experiences in the city, which is becoming more and more gentrified by the day. In fact, Diggs experienced the harmful effects of injustice just days before he made his big break.
"Two days before I left LA to move to New York to work on Hamilton, I got pulled off of my bike and thrown up against a fence by police officers who thought I fitted a description," he told The Guardian. "These events keep happening. It doesn't change. And so you live with it."
Diggs actually began to write "Blindspotting" alongside his friend and fellow slam poet Rafael Casal, just days after the infamous Fruitvale station shooting in 2009. The comedy-drama explores themes of racial and class awareness that highlight untold stories, such as that of Oscar Grant, the victim of police brutality at Fruitvale station. Years later, the co-writers began development of the film after Diggs had reached a more stable point in his career — his first Tony win in 2016.
