lady gaga vma 2011: African Americans at the Oscars

AFRICAN AMERICAN MILESTONES AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS

By Dankwa Brooks

African Americans have been wholly disregarded for the many achievements in film by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Their 2010 Press Release reads The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization composed of over 6,500 filmmakers whose achievements have placed them at the top of their craft.

Much like early television it became an event when a black person was on the screen. For that same black person to receive recognition from the Academy also became an event. I have tried to enumerate each African American winner and even some notable nominees among them a modern day travesty and you can probably figure out what that was. Having said that…AND THE WINNERS ARE…

1939: Hattie McDaniel (pictured above left) wins Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Gone With the Wind at the 12th Annual Academy Awards.

1947: James Baskett (pictured above right) receives an Honorary Award at the 20th Annual Academy Awards ceremony for his performance in Song of the South.

1963: Sidney Poitier (pictured above) wins Best Actor for his performance in Lilies of the Field at the 36th Annual Academy Awards.

1971: Isaac Hayes (pictured above) would become the first African American to win an Oscar for Best Song for the "Theme From Shaft" for the film Shaft at the 44th Annual Academy Awards.

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NOTABLE NOMINATIONS

In 1972 For the first time in Academy history, three of the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees were black performers - Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson in Sounder, and Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues. (However, none of the trio of black 'actors' won.)

Paul Winfield (with his sole nomination) as sharecropper Nathan Lee Morgan in Sounder

Cicely Tyson (with her sole nomination) as sharecropper Rebecca Morgan in Sounder

Diana Ross (with her sole nomination for her screen debut) as drug-addicted singing great Billie Holliday in director Sidney Furie's biopic Lady Sings the Blues (with five nominations and no wins)

Lonne Elder III was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for the feature film Sounder. He and writer William H. Armstrong shared the writing credits for this film.

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1982: Louis Gossett Jr. wins Best Supporting Actor for his performance in An Officer and a Gentleman at the 55th Annual Academy Awards.

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1984: Best Music, Original Song For the song "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red -- Music and Lyric by Stevie Wonder at the 57th Annual Academy Awards.
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1985: Lionel Richie wins for Best Original Song with his hit theme to the film White Knights, "Say You, Say Me" at the 58th Annual Academy Awards.
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On March 24, 1986 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California a travesty happened. The 1985 film The Color Purple was nominated for ELEVEN Academy Awards and did not win any at the 58^th Annual Academy Awards.

Below in an attempt to draw some recognition of the film’s achievements I have listed all eleven nominations. It must be noted that the director of the film, Steven Spielberg was NOT nominated for Best Director even though his film was nominated for Best Picture.

1. Best Picture-The Color Purple, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Quincy Jones, producers (Warner Bros.)

2. Actress in a Leading Role-Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple

3. Actress in a Supporting Role-Margaret Avery, The Color Purple and Oprah Winfrey, The Color Purple

4. Actress in a Supporting Role- Oprah Winfrey, The Color Purple

5. Screenplay Based on Material From Another Medium-Menno Meyjes, The Color Purple

6. Cinematography-Allen Daviau, The Color Purple

7. Art Direction-J. Michael Riva and Robert W. Welch, art direction; Linda DeScenna, set decoration, The Color Purple

8. Best Song “Miss Celie's Blues” (Sister), The Color Purple, Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton, music; Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie, lyrics

9. Original Score-Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andrae Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Fred Steiner, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey and Randy Kerber, The Color Purple

10. Costume Design-Aggie Guerard Rodgers, The Color Purple

11. Makeup-Ken Chase, The Color Purple

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1989: Denzel Washington wins Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Glory at the 62nd Academy Awards.

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NOTABLE NOMINATION

1989: Spike Lee is nominated for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Do The Right Thing at the 62nd Academy Awards.

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1990: Whoopi Goldberg wins Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Ghost at the 63rd Annual Academy Awards. __________________________________________________

NOTABLE NOMINATION

1991: John Singleton is nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Boyz N the Hood at the 64th Annual Academy Awards.

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NOTABLE NOMINATIONS

1993: Angela Bassett is nominated for Best Actress for her performance in What's Love Got to Do with It at the 66th Annual Academy Awards.

1993: Laurence Fishburne is nominated for Best Actor for his performance in What's Love Got to Do with It at the 66th Annual Academy Awards.

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1996: Cuba Gooding Jr. wins Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Jerry Maguire at the 69th Annual Academy Awards.

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NOTABLE NOMINATIONS

1997: Spike Lee and Sam Pollard are nominated for Best Documentary Feature film for 4 Little Girls at the 70th Annual Academy Awards.

(They are both pictured Sam Pollard left, Spike Lee right for their 2007 Emmy wins for "Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking" for "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" (2006).

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2001: Halle Berry (pictured above right) wins Best Actress for her performance in Monster's Ball at the 74th Annual Academy Awards.

2001: Denzel Washington (pictured above left) wins Best Actor for his performance in Training Day at the 74th Annual Academy Awards.

2001: Sidney Poitier (pictured above) wins a Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award at the 74th Annual Academy Awards.

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2004: Jamie Foxx (pictured above left) wins Best Actor for his performance in Ray at the 77th Academy Awards.

2004: Morgan Freeman (pictured above right) wins Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Million Dollar Baby at the 77th Academy Awards.

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2006: Three 6 Mafia (pictured above) wins for Best Original Song for "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from the film Hustle & Flow at the 74th Annual Academy Awards.

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2007: Forrest Whitaker (pictured above left) wins Best Actor for his performance in The Last King of Scotland at the 79th Academy Awards.

2007: Jennifer Hudson (pictured above right) wins Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dreamgirls at the 79th Academy Awards.

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NOTABLE NOMINATIONS

In 2010 Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire was nominated for SIX Academy Awards and two other achievements. Lee Daniels is only the second African American director to be nominated for Best Director and his film is the ONLY film directed by an African American to be nominated for Best Picture. Below are all six nominations.

In writing this blog entry I had only anticipated Mo'Nique to be the only Oscar winner from this film. I am now most spectacularly suprised, happy and proud to be able to add another to this list and perhaps the most significant of all the winners to me.

As a filmmaker, in recent years I have focused on directing, but those that know (and you should) know that I got my start in filmmaking screenwriting. Screenwriting, unlike directing, is the one part of filmmaking that you can do with little to no budget and a young black kid with no money, but plenty of imagination can aspire to accomplish. Congratulations to the newest additions to this list and perhaps my favorite of them all Geoffrey Fletcher.

· Best Picture

· Best Director-Lee Daniels

· Best Actress-Gabourey Sidibe

· Best Supporting Actress-Mo'Nique

· Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)-Geoffrey Fletcher

· Best Film Editing-Joe Klotz

2010: Mo'Nique (pictured above) wins Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire at the 82nd Academy Awards.

2010: Geoffrey Fletcher (pictured above) became the first African American to win a writing award. Fletcher took home the gold statue for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) for Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire at the 82nd Academy Awards.