#OscarsSoBlack
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The Academy Awards is known for celebrating the prestige and success of Hollywood’s esteemed elite in the film industry. Everyone is familiar with the plush-red carpet covered in celebrities garnished in Gala looks. What’s even more world-renown is that little golden statue, gifted to the winners of such a distinguished award, the Oscar. This year marked the Academy’s 91st Award Ceremony, celebrating the films nominated in 2018. Seven Black men and women accepted Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, leaving a historic mark on the awards and on Black History Month itself.
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First, there was Regina King, who took homer first Oscar for best supporting actress in, If Beale Street Could Talk. James Baldwin’s, If Beale Street Could Talk, was originally a novel written in 1974. In Barry Jenkin’s film adaptation, Regina King portrays Sharon Rivers, a mother devoted to her family and determined to support her pregnant daughter, whose fiancé has been wrongfully imprisoned. King accepted the award with confidence and poise, expressing in her speech “I am an example of what happens when support and love is poured into someone.”
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Then Ruth E. Carter became the first black woman to win best costume design, for Black Panther. Thanking Spike Lee for launching her career with 1988's School Daze and helping her elevate Marvel’s Black Panther into an African King, Carter drove home the importance of telling one's own story in her speech. She even threw in a clever joke about Vibranium!
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Next up was Hannah Beachler, the first African-American woman to be nominated and win best production design, also for Black Panther. Beachler said in her acceptance speech, “I give this strength to all of those who come next to keep going and never give up, and when you think it’s impossible, just remember to say this piece of advice I got from a very wise woman: ‘I did my best, and my best is good enough.’”
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Mahershala Ali is the first black actor to win two Oscars for best supporting actor. His first was for 2016’s Moonlight. This year’s award was for his portrayal as a queer, black classical musician Don Shirley in Green Book. which also won Best picture. The Negro Motorist Green book, from which the movie got its name, was created by mail carrier Victor Hugo Green and published from 1937 to 1966. It was a yearly guidebook for African-Americans to safely navigate the segregated south, documenting restaurants stores and hotels that welcomed Black travelers.
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After over three decades of creating films speaking directly and uniquely on the African American experience and mentoring countless more in the film industry, filmmaker Spike Lee received his first Oscar, taking home a trophy for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film BlacKkKlansman. In his speech, Lee paid tribute to his grandmother, detailing the obstacles he faced on his journey to success while also encouraging viewers to choose wisely in the upcoming 2020 election.
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Peter Ramsey is the first black winner for best animated feature for co-directing Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The movie featured the first Afro-Latino Spider Man, Miles Morale. When commenting on it’s success Ramsey expressed, "I don't think anybody goes into a Spider-Man movie thinking you're going to win an Oscar.” Instead, he stresses the importance of creating a hero that speaks to minority communities.
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Our final Oscar winner is Kevin Willmott, who won for best adapted screenplay for BlacKkKlansman. He shared the award with Spike Lee, who directed the comedic biopic based on a true story of a black man who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. The University of Kansas professor said, “I never thought in a million years I would win an Oscar for that,”
After three years of #OscarsSoWhite trending on social media, the campaign ushered in new and diverse Academy members, allowing this year’s ceremony to set new records for the number of both Black and female winners. Congratulations to all of the 2019’s Oscar Winners!
Strike Out,
Writer: Kamari Pless
Editor: Savannah Tindall
Graphic Designer: Sophie Li
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