Diversity at the Oscars
It wasn’t too long ago when Halle Berry broke the color barrier and became the first African American to win Best Actress in 2002 for Monster’s Ball. Her speech was emotionally raw and captured such a beautiful moment in history.
It’s evident that Halle understood the significance of her win. In her speech she said, “This moment is so much bigger than me. It’s for every nameless faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened”.
Sidney Poitier also stands with Halle. He won in 1963, when became the first black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field. Sidney and Halle have paved the way for all actors of all colors to finally receive the recognition they earned.
This award season is as colorful as ever, showcasing the amazing, gifted nominees from a wide range of ethnicities. This is truly representative of our Mixed Nation.
Some of our favorites include Lupita Nyong’o and Chiwetel Ejofor for 12 Years a Slave along with Barkhad Abdi for his supporting role in Captain Phillips. Lupita Nyong’o is a Mexican-born Kenyan actress who has gracefully walked into the spotlight for both her acting talent as well as her fashion. Chiwetel Ejofor is a British-Nigerian actor nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Lastly, Barkhad Abdi is a Somalian born actor who made his cinematic debut acting along side Tom Hanks.
There is a touching interview with Chiwetel Ejofor’s sister, Zain Asher, expressing her joy for her brother’s accomplishments. It truly is heartwarming!
We wish all the nominees the best of luck during the Oscars on March 24th! Click here to see all the nominees and categories!
Article update: Lupita Nyong’o won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role!
We are a mixed nation, but Hollywood, although improved somewhat this year, still has a very long way to go, as far as representing that diversity in movies and on television. The movies have shown some improvement in diversity this year, but television still has a long way to go on the regular main television channels. Kerry Washington is the first black woman leading an dramatic series on regular tv since Teresa Graves in “Get Christie Love” in 1974. The only Asian actor I can think of on regular tv in a starring role is Lucy Liu in “Elementary”. With the possible exception of Zoe Saldana, the last black female action star in the movies was Pam Grier in the 1970’s! There are no black cast sitcoms that I can think of on the regular main tv channels In addition, there are not that many Latinos or Native Americans represented on television. So, I don’t think we should give Hollywood a congratulatory clap quite yet. Glenn in the Bronx, NY.
My name is Brittney and my wonderful boyfriend of 7 months is name Dylan…as u can see we are an “eye catching” couple..this is my first interracial relationship and I found the perfect person to ME to experienced it with…the looks and comments are crazy and sometimes rude being in the south “we” are many of things to people but what is misunderstood the most is the person on the inside that we both are truly its just our appearances don’t match to others bc he’s a 6’4 white guy with a 5’2 curvy black girl but we love the attention!!