But as she progressed in her career — an extensive one that includes over three dozen television and film credits — McMillon, was able to find a silver lining in working with other women in editorial. For her first feature film, she apprenticed under Terilyn A. Shropshire on Don Cheadle’s Talk To Me. Nancy Richardson and Maysie Hoy were also editorial heavy-hitters that McMillon was able to learn from as she navigated an otherwise male-dominated industry. She recalled a particularly telling memory about what being that only woman is like with a laugh. “I remember I worked on a feature that was written by a female and the subject matter was very female-oriented. But when I was giving an opinion in the cutting room I realized it was me in a room with like five or six other white men. As I was like ‘Oh.’ As I was giving a note about something I realized what the room was like. It was so interesting. In creating this movie that’s so female-specific, THIS is what’s in the cutting room right now. It didn’t really dawn on me until that moment where I looked around and it was the producer, the director, the editor, and then there was me giving a note. It was like a lightbulb going on moment.” It is these circumstances that make McMillon’s Oscar nomination so meaningful. Stories about women and people of color are not told exclusively with the bodies of people who look like them on screen. When all of those minds are white and male, what does inclusivity look like? The decisions that are made in writing rooms, cutting rooms and the director’s chair have an even bigger impact on how diversity comes through. McMillon was quick to remind me that sometimes there is only so much that editors can do to avoid the pitfalls of stereotypes and tropes. “If a character has been written a certain way, or an actor has been directed a certain way, we only have a certain amount of capability of changing or evolving something.” That McMillon is the first Black woman to be acknowledged by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a film editor is a push to never forget that visibility does not mean the battle is won. Although on a personal level, McMillon’s Oscar nomination is a mixed bag of good emotions. “It was like pure happiness, but also pure relief. Because for me, I just didn’t want to let anyone down. I know no one was putting any high expectations on me or anything like that. But when family and friends were talking about it I could see the glint in their eye and they were so excited about it. And I was like, ‘I don’t want to disappoint anybody.’ So it was definitely an unforgettable moment.” The moment in question involved McMillon’s sister texting her the good news about her friends and Moonlight colleagues who had also been nominated. (In case you didn’t know, McMillon, director and writer Barry Jenkins, co-editor Nat Sanders, cinematographer James Laxton, and Adele Romanski all attended film school together and are good friends.) The moment also involved McMillon’s sister’s phone freezing before she could scream “Joi, you got nominated for an Oscar!!!” Sometimes the editing in life happens for us. So what’s next for McMillon? She said that she still needed to wrap up another movie called The Glass Castle, and then hopefully a break. I laughed with her at the simplicity of her statement. But I couldn’t help but think about the irony of a Black woman behind the scenes having to make history before she can take a vacation.