Viola Davis
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Viola Davis Named Harvard Artist of the Year
Viola Davis is a national treasure. And even before her Oscar win Sunday, Harvard University had named Davis its Artist of the Year. On March 4, Davis will accept the Harvard Foundation’s arts medal during the 32nd annual Cultural Rhythms Festival in Memorial Hall’s Sanders Theatre. “The students and faculty of the Harvard Foundation are…
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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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Congrats to Mahershala Ali, Viola Davis, Ezra Edelman, Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney for Their Oscar Wins!
Mahershala Ali set the tone for the evening as he walked onstage to accept the first award of the night. Ali, who won for best supporting actor in Moonlight, made history as he became the first Muslim actor to ever win an Academy Award. “I want to thank my teachers, my professors,” Ali said. “One…
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Who Could, Should and Will Win at the 89th Academy Awards
I have a complicated relationship with the Academy Awards. As I’ve said before, when we need the approval and validation of the dominant group in order for us to see our own work as valuable, we engage in a form of internalized racism that centers whiteness even as we engage in the subversive work of…
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"How To Get Away With Murder" Season Three, Episode 13 Recap: (“It's War”)
The big mystery of the third season’s second half continues in episode 13 as everyone tries to figure out who killed Wes… Wait, I started the last episode recap the exact same way. So much for uncharted territory here. Well, Annalise is out of jail now, so that’s new. Now that she’s out and rewigged,…
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"How To Get Away With Murder" Season Three, Episode 12 Recap: (“Go Cry Somewhere Else”)
The big mystery of the third season’s second half continues in episode 12 as everyone tries to figure out who killed Wes. We immediately see that (unsurprisingly) Frank was lying about being with Wes through the time of the fire. Wes actually ended up getting into a cab and calling a mysterious contact marked “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,…
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This Embrace Between Brian Tyree Henry and Keith Stanfield Is The Blackest Thing That Ever Happened This Week
Between Moonlight’s win and Tracee Ellis Ross going Peak Tracee Ellis Ross with her win and her speech and her joy and her dress (and her dress and her dress and her dress) and Issa Rae not winning (yet) but reminding us that we probably should get used to seeing her at these types of…
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Watch: The Cast of Fences Share Their Experience in Making Such an Important Film
Before his death in 2005, August Wilson optioned Fences as a feature film. He was adamant about wanting a black director, saying: “I declined a white director, not on the basis of race, but on the basis of culture. White directors are not qualified for the job. The job requires someone who shares the specifics…
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Review: Fences Is an Acting and Directorial Feast Fit for August Wilson's Words
August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences has finally made it to the big screen, directed by Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington. Wilson’s masterful storytelling about a working-class family living in a historic Pittsburgh neighborhood and fighting for survival, personally and professionally, jumps off the screen under Washington’s brilliant direction. Wilson’s splendid storytelling blends perfectly with…