Daniel Kaluuya Unintentionally Summed Up Oscars Diversity the Best: There’s Still a Lot of Work to Do

There were high hopes for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)’ 93rd Academy Awards ceremony. For the first time in history, nearly half of the nominees in acting categories were people of color, and 70 women were nominated across all 23 categories. These were unprecedented numbers for an awards show that has existed for nearly a century. While some of this change resulted from AMPAS’ Academy Aperture 2020 Diversity Initiative (A2020) and the Tarana Burke-founded #MeToo Movement, the events of 2020 also shook Hollywood to its core.

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Doing The Work: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Six Years After #OscarsSoWhite

Hollywood has changed drastically in the six years since media strategist April Reign coined the term #OscarsSoWhite. In both 2015 and 2016, only white entertainers were nominated for awards in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) 20 acting categories. This year, a record nine people of color have earned nominations for acting roles, including five Black actors. Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah is the first movie with an all-Black producing team to be nominated for Best Picture and Viola Davis has become the most-nominated Black actress ever. Additionally, films like Sophia Nahli Allison’s A Love Song For LaTasha and Garrett Bradley’s TIME are garnering recognition and acclaim.

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