All in all, seven actors of color have won the 16 acting trophies given out since 2021.
Thats nearly half, which has to be a sign of progress, right?
The film wasChadwick Bosemans final performance he died during post-production after a long, secret battle with colon cancer.
Viola Davis and Andra Day.Credit:Everett Collection - Design: Alex Sandoval
And,as previously discussed, Viola Davis is Viola F—ing Davis.
He was immediately sold.
The game was up.
Viola Davis in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’.David Lee/Netflix
There was no acting.
There was just being.
Daniels was enchanted by 1972sDiana Ross-starringLady Sings the Blues,as any gay Black boy would be.
Andra Day in ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’.Takashi Seida/Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
The 2021 ceremony was remarkably similar to the 1973 one.
Now, did Frances McDormand need a third Best Actress Oscar?
Did she even need a second forThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri?
Viola Davis at the 2021 Oscars.ABC via Getty
The year McDormand won forThree Billboards, she was up against Meryl Streep forThe Post.The Post, yall.
A film best remembered for giving us Meryl in a series of increasingly stunning kaftans.
And shebeat out Viola Davis inThe Help.
Andra Day attends the 93rd Academy Awards.
And have the films held up?
Especially when compared to their competition (or the lack thereof)?
Black actresses, however, typically have one shot and it has to count.
Viola Davis in ‘The Woman King’.Ilze Kitshoff/TriStar Pictures
Perhaps more importantly, the Academy has also implementedrepresentation and inclusion standardsfor Best Picture.
But even when those kinds of films are made, theres no guarantee theyll be recognized by AMPAS.
It impacts who we are.
Danielle Deadwyler in ‘Till’.Lynsey Weatherspoon / Orion Pictures
People like to say, Well, Viola and Danielle had studios behind them.
But we just very clearly saw that social capital is more valuable than that.
There may be diversity on your sets but not in your lives.
Gina Prince-Bythewood, Ava Duvernay, and Chinonye Chukwu.Tommaso Boddi/Getty; Arturo Holmes/Getty; Dia Dipasupil/Getty
And Black women in this industry, we dont have that power.
There is no groundswell from privileged people with enormous social capital to get behind Black women.
There never has been.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in ‘Origin’.Neon / Courtesy Everett Collection
Celebs likeBen Affleck,Sean Penn,Angelina Jolie,Dave Chappelle, andLin-Manuel Mirandahosted screenings of the film.
This film does something that is very, very brave, Ellis-Taylortold PEOPLEin January.
And I just think that we [in Hollywood] award the white guys for that kind of work.
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