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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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Of Lions, Hunters and Heroes: Black Film, Black Stories and Black Realities
Tonight the Black Lives Matter Global Network took to the Oscars stage. Five years of building up black communities. Five years of experiencing police repression. Five years of centering black stories as the way we honor both the dead and the living. We took to the Oscar stage because Black Lives Matter refuses to stop…
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Actress Elizabeth Banks Calls Out Steven Spielberg for Never Making a Movie With a Female Lead, Because I Guess The Color Purple Doesn’t Exist
While accepting an award from the nonprofit group Women in Film, actress Elizabeth Banks took some time out to talk about the issues that women face in Hollywood. Her message, however, was overridden with peak white-womanness when she took a shot at director and producer Steven Spielberg, who she claimed had never made a movie…
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Racial Progress in Film Remains Slow Drag 30 Years After Hollywood Shuffle
Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle was released 30 years ago this year. Although it couldn’t have been noted at the time, Shuffle became a foundational film that launched the careers of two of our most prolific filmmakers and made us aware of an entire family of comedic geniuses—the Wayans family. I most remember the film for…
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For Many, Hollywood Gets Closer to the Truth
“At last,” Derrick Clifton wrote Monday for NBCBLK. “When Viola Davis finally heard her name announced as an Academy Award winner, after three nominations, her mouth didn’t drop in shock, nor did the splendor of the moment seem to overwhelm her. “Davis was ready — to proudly claim the golden reward she’d earned and publicly…
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Even When White People Finally Get It Right, They Still Get It Wrong
In one of the most entertaining “spontaneous” bits I’ve ever seen performed at the Academy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel allowed a group of flabbergasted and starstruck tourists into the Dolby Theater to walk past the audience. This, of course, introduced the world to #GaryFromChicago and his wife — computer generated composites of every Black uncle and…
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Cheryl Boone Isaacs Put the Oscars on a Path Toward Diversity. Will Her Successor Continue the Trend?
Tonight’s 89th annual Academy Awards will be very different from last year’s broadcast or even the year before. In 2015 and 2016, there were no black actors or actors of color nominated in any acting categories. One of the reasons activist April Reign was so successful in launching her #OscarsSoWhite movement in protest was that…
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Dear Oscars: Don’t Do to Moonlight What You Did to These 5 Black Films
Oscar season is upon us. On Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will honor what it deems to be the best films of 2016 during the 89th Academy Awards. After two years of #OscarsSoWhite, this year we have a record six black acting nominees, three films with predominantly black…
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My Black History: When Magic Johnson Announced That He Had HIV, It Was a Wake-Up Call
Editor’s note: During Black History Month, the focus is usually on historical figures who loomed larger than life, paving the way for the progress we experience today. But black history isn’t just about telling stories of our past. History is being made every day and has been made throughout our lives; it’s not just in…
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Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Mahershala Ali and Hidden Figures Win Big at SAG Awards
The 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards took place Sunday night, and on the heels of President HWSRN’s immigration ban specifically targeting Muslims, some award winners used the opportunity to speak out against the atrocities that unfolded over the weekend. Mahershala Ali took home the SAG Award for best supporting actor for his performance in Moonlight,…