Oscars
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The Coronation of Our Queen Cicely Tyson at the 2018 Governors Awards
Last night, I had the privilege to attend the 2018 Governors Awards in Hollywood, Calif., and saw Cicely Tyson receive her honorary Oscar. She is the first black woman to ever win the honor. In a career that has spanned nearly 70 years, the 93-year-old actress has starred with some of the best and the…
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Cicely Tyson Will Be the 1st Black Woman Awarded an Honorary Oscar—But She's Always Been 1st to Us [Updated]
As Cicely Tyson clearly demonstrated during Aretha Franklin’s funeral, she can elevate any moment. But of course, we knew that already. At 93, Tyson has been chosen to receive an honorary Oscar this fall by the the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She’ll be the first black woman…
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Say Bye to #OscarsSoWhite; Academy Announces New Members in Hopes of Becoming More Diverse
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wasn’t too happy when the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was going around in 2016, so it decided to go with so diverse instead. With over 928 invitees to the academy this year, the folks behind the Oscars aren’t playing with y’all. They have truly made an effort to increase…
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Bill Cosby Ousted From Film Academy Along With Roman Polanski
After adopting a new code of conduct and new procedures for handling workplace misconduct allegations in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that it had expelled Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski from its membership. According to the Hollywood Reporter, members voted to…
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It’s Hot to Be Unapologetically Black … Until It’s Presented Like Tiffany Haddish
Once upon a time (somewhat) long ago, I had a hankering for Popeyes Chicken during lunch hour at work. It was one of our extra-busy days, so I needed to do a grab-and-go. As the promising waft of Louisiana lust soothed my nose, I was hit with a wave of heaviness: “Wait, do I really…
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#HereWeAre: Is It the ‘Year of the Woman’ (Again), or Are We Just Marketable (Again)?
In March of 1993, I was a high school senior, soon to enter the predominantly (but not exclusively) female enclave of Sarah Lawrence College. Coincidentally, that year, the Academy Awards themed their ceremony “Oscar Celebrates Women and the Movies,” putting their own spin on what the media was calling “the Year of the Woman,” which…
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Jay-Z and Beyoncé Threw a Secret Black Oscars After-Party and I’m Sure They Meant to Invite Me
Jay-Z and Beyoncé hosted a huge bash for Mary J. Blige after the 2018 Oscars, and apparently, my invitation was lost in the mail … or maybe it was the huge snowstorm that hit the East Coast this weekend that caused the delay. It was a balmy 69 degrees where I live, but there must…
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She Got That Glow: Taraji P. Henson Slays on the Oscars Red Carpet…Again
It must be tiring to be Taraji P. Henson. Seriously, the woman so regularly kills it on the red carpet, we’re ready to nickname her Buffy the Couture Slayer. At last night’s Academy Awards, she certainly lived up to the moniker, putting her own slightly gothic spin on the goddess-inspired trend that threatened to take…
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She Got That Glow: How Zendaya Served Simply Stunning Glamour at the Oscars
We’re going to be honest about something: We don’t really know where Zendaya came from. I mean, we know she’s an Oakland, Calif., native, and a child model-turned-Disney starlet. We know she appeared on Dancing With the Stars before scoring the coveted role of M.J. in the latest installment of the Spider-Man franchise. We even…
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Common Has Secured the Bag and Now He Just Makes Dad Rap
Common is killing the game; or, in today’s parlance, Common has secured the bag. I’m almost 40 years old, which means that I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s listening to Common (née Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.) when he was rapping about watermelons and communism and asking to borrow a dollar. I still own…