Entertainment

After the Oscars, Diversity Remains a Topic of Discussion

Published

11 years ago

February 24, 2015

Common, left, and John Legend pose in the press room with the award for best original song in a feature film for Glory from Selma at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — What was missing from the Academy Awards turned out to be the issue that could not be ignored on the night trophies were handed out.

The lack of non-white contenders for major acting awards this year became a focus on the day Oscar nominations were announced. Hollywood’s commitment to reflecting the nation’s diversity, and its sensitivity to how these issues are perceived, could not be missed on Sunday’s show — from the opening joke on.

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BEST AND WHITEST

Host Neil Patrick Harris put it right on the table. “Tonight, we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest — excuse me, brightest,” he said.

It drew a knowing laugh, and no small amount of parsing.

Was Harris tweaking Hollywood for an embarrassing shortcoming? Or was he making fun of the people who have raised it as an issue of concern?

Obviously, the Oscars are an entertainment program and hosts are expected to make jokes, said Eric Haywood, a writer on Fox’s hit drama “Empire.” Yet jokes can also make people feel that their concerns are not being taken seriously, he said.

“As it stands, the joke is likely to be reduced to a meme, which the Academy is in no way obligated to address and can easily dismiss,” said Robert Jones, a Brooklyn writer and creator of the social justice blog, Son of Baldwin. “It is, after all, just a joke, right?”

___

“SELMA” STAR

Another knowing line from Harris came when he praised actor David Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King Jr. in the movie “Selma” but was passed over for an acting nomination. Harris asked Oyelowo to stand and the audience applauded.

“Oh, sure,” Harris said. “Now you like him.”

Oyelowo was arguably involved in the emotional high point of the show. The movie’s anthem, “Glory,” by Common and John Legend, won the Oscar for best song shortly after the two musicians performed it. A camera cut to Oyelowo as the song was being sung and his face was stained with tears.

___

BOYCOTT

Haywood saw references to Oscar moments on Twitter Sunday night but had no personal knowledge of them. He wasn’t watching. Being in the entertainment business, he usually tunes in. This year, he participated in a boycott of the Oscars ceremony by some black viewers that was organized through the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

That hashtag appears to have been started by a friend of Haywood’s, Washington lawyer April Reign, according to Twitter, and was the gathering place for a steady stream of commentary on Hollywood’s lack of diversity.

There have been some 140,000 mentions of the hashtag since the day nominations were announced, according to Topsy. The number of mentions peaked that day and the hashtag became popular again Sunday night.

The Sunday night audience of 36.6 million people was down 16 percent from the 43.7 million viewers who watched in 2014, the Nielsen company said. Nielsen had no immediate breakdown of Oscar viewership by ethnicity.

Haywood said he was glad the issue was brought to the fore.

“Change comes very slowly,” he said. “I don’t expect any sort of radical change to the status quo from one year to the next. My hopes are not too high for anything to happen too quickly. By the same token, it doesn’t hurt for people to raise their voices.”

___

NON-NOMINATED MINORITIES

To some viewers, the Academy Awards made it a specific point to emphasize diversity during the show, from Harris noting Oyelowo in the audience to making Oprah Winfrey a joke target.

Nowhere was the effort more evident than in the awards presenters, who included Terrence Howard, Kerry Washington, Viola Davis, Winfrey, Oyelowo, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Eddie Murphy, Lupita Nyong’o, Zoe Saldana and Octavia Spencer.

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ARQUETTE BACKLASH

Meryl Streep stood and cheered when Patricia Arquette, in her acceptance speech for best supporting actress award, made a ringing declaration in favor of equal rights and pay for women.

Her elaboration backstage, however, struck some who heard about it as pitting groups against each other.

“It’s time for all the women in America and all the men that love women, and all the gay people, and all the people of color that we’ve fought for to fight for us now,” Arquette said backstage, leading some critics to wonder if her call for wage equality was for white women only.

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LOCK BOX

Harris’ assignment of actress Octavia Spencer to watch the “lock box” of his Oscars prediction struck some people online as demeaning: Even as a joke, assigning a black woman to the task, supervised by two white actors, may have been tone deaf. A spokeswoman for Spencer did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.

___

PENN AND INARRITU

The line, coming from one of Hollywood’s most prominent liberals, seemed shocking.

“Who gave this son of a bitch his green card,” actor Sean Penn said, announcing the win for “Birdman” as best picture, directed by Mexican-born Alejandro Inarritu.

A slur? No, Inarritu said backstage that he and Penn are friends and the reference to the document that confers residency status to immigrants was an example of the rough sense of humor they share. “I found it hilarious,” he said.

All’s good, said Penn’s publicist, Mara Buxbaum, on Monday.

“As Inarritu said, they are indeed great friends,” she said. “Sean Penn is currently in Haiti with President Clinton. He is not available for an interview.”

____

Lynn Elber and Sandra Cohen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Advice

COMMENTARY: If You Don’t Want Your ‘Black Card’ Revoked, Watch What You Bring to Holiday Dinners

From Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s Day, whether it’s the dining room table or the bid whist (Spades? Uno, anyone?) table, your card may be in danger.

Published

4 days ago

December 14, 2025

Oakland Post

The ‘aunties’ playing cards. iStock photo by Andreswd.

By Wanda Ravernell
Post Staff

From the fourth week of November to the first week in January, if you are of African descent, but particularly African American, certain violations of cultural etiquette will get your ‘Black card’ revoked.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s Day, whether it’s the dining room table or the bid whist (Spades? Uno, anyone?) table, your card may be in danger.

It could take until Super Bowl Sunday for reinstatement.

I don’t know much about the card table, but for years I was on probation by the ‘Aunties,’ the givers and takers of Black cards.

How I Got into Trouble

It was 1970-something and I was influenced by the health food movement that emerged from the hippie era. A vegetarian (which was then considered sacrilegious by most Black people I knew) prepared me a simple meal: grated cheese over steamed broccoli, lentils, and brown rice.

I introduced the broccoli dish at the Friday night supper with my aunt and grandfather. She pronounced the bright green broccoli undone, but she ate it. (I did not, of course, try brown rice on them.)

I knew that I would be allowed back in the kitchen when she attempted the dish, but the broccoli had been cooked to death. (Y’all remember when ALL vegetables, not just greens, were cooked to mush?)

My Black card, which had been revoked was then reattained because they ate what I prepared and imitated it.

Over the decades, various transgressions have become normalized. I remember when having a smoked turkey neck instead of a ham hock in collard greens was greeted with mumblings and murmurings at both the dining room and card tables. Then came vegan versions with just olive oil (What? No Crisco? No bacon, at least?) and garlic. And now my husband stir fries his collards in a wok.

But No Matter How Things Have Changed…

At holiday meals, there are assigned tasks. Uncle Jack chopped raw onions when needed. Uncle Buddy made the fruit salad for Easter. My mother brought the greens in winter, macaroni salad in summer. Aunt Deanie did the macaroni and cheese, and the great aunts, my deceased grandmother’s sisters, oversaw the preparation of the roast beef, turkey, and ham. My father, if he were present, did the carving.

These designations/assignments were binding agreements that could stand up in a court of law. Do not violate the law of assignments by bringing some other version of a tried-and-true dish, even if you call it a new ‘cheese and noodle item’ to ‘try out.’ The auntie lawgivers know what you are trying to do. It’s called a menu coup d’état, and they are not having it.

The time for experiments is in your own home: your spouse and kids are the Guinea pigs.

My mother’s variation of a classic that I detested from that Sunday to the present was adding crushed pineapple to mashed sweet potatoes. A relative stops by, tries it, and then it can be introduced as an add-on to the standard holiday menu.

My Aunt Vivian’s concoctions from Good Housekeeping or Ladies’ Home Journal magazine also made it to the Black people’s tables all over the country in the form of a green bean casserole.

What Not to Do and How Did It Cross Your Mind?

People are, of all things holy, preparing mac ‘n’ cheese with so much sugar it tastes like custard with noodles in it.

Also showing up in the wrong places: raisins. Raisins have been reported in the stuffing (makes no sense unless it’s in a ‘sweet meats’ dish), in a pan of corn bread, and – heresy in the Black kitchen – the MAC ‘n’ CHEESE.

These are not mere allegations: There is photographic evidence of these Black card violations, but I don’t want to defame witnesses who remained present at the scene of the crimes.

The cook – bless his/her heart – was probably well-meaning, if ignorant. Maybe they got the idea from a social media influencer, much like Aunt Viv got recipes from magazines.

Thankfully, a long-winded blessing of the food at the table can give the wary attendee time to locate the oddity’s place on the table and plan accordingly.

But who knows? Innovation always prevails, for, as the old folks say, ‘waste makes want.’ What if the leftovers were cut up, dipped in breadcrumbs and deep fried? The next day, that dish might make it to the TV tray by the card table.

An older cousin – on her way to being an Auntie – in her bonnet, leggings, T-shirt, and bunny slippers and too tired to object, might try it and like it….

And if she ‘rubs your head’ after eating it, the new dish might be a winner and (Whew!) everybody, thanks God, keeps their Black cards.

Until the next time.

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Arts and Culture

Fayeth Gardens Holds 3rd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration at Hayward City Hall on Dec. 28

Kwanzaa celebrates seven principles – Nguzu Saba – that support an ideal of community, beginning from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Those principles, in Swahili, are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility), Ujamaa (Collective Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

Published

4 days ago

December 14, 2025

Oakland Post

The Pride and Joy Band performed at the first annual Kwanzaa celebration sponsored by Fayeth Gardens. Courtesy photo.

Entertainment, vendors, and special honors for Sankofa Lifetime Achievement awardees

Special to The Post

Celebrating Ujima, the principle of ‘Collective Work and Responsibility,’ Fayeth Gardens’ 3^rd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration will be held on Dec. 28, from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

Kwanzaa celebrates seven principles – Nguzu Saba – that support an ideal of community, beginning from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

Those principles, in Swahili, are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility), Ujamaa (Collective Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

The free event at Hayward City Hall at 777 B St. will feature live entertainment, a guest speaker, awards for community activists whose work reflects the principle of Ujima, vendors and an honoring of the ancestors by Awon Ohun Omnira (Voices of Freedom).

On stage will be the Touch of Class Band, a New Orleans Second-Line Band, and the California Griot Storytellers. Bring the children to have fun in the Kids Korner.

Velda Goe, who has been celebrating Kwanzaa since it started in the 1960s, noticed there was no public celebration of the holiday in Hayward when she moved to the city in 2008.

“I started it a couple of years ago,” she said, “and hopefully it will continue just like the cultural events by other nationalities (in Hayward). The Afro-descendent people of Hayward deserve cultural recognition as well.”

Goe also believes it’s important that Kwanzaa gets its due because “there are so many misconceptions,” particularly by people of other nationalities, who are under the impression “that Kwanzaa is a cult, a religion, or replaces Christmas.”

The celebration, which is open to all, can have the effect of helping guests see that Kwanzaa’a principles and purpose are common to all

This year’s Sankofa Lifetime Awardees are:

Mrs. Freddye M. Davis: President of the South Hayward NAACP
•Baba Arnold X.C. Perkins: Co-founder of the Brotherhood of Elders
•Frederick Jordan,: Legendary founder of F.E. Jordan & Associates and the Design Engineer for the Charles P. Howard Container Terminal at the Port of Oakland + 1,000 Projects

Come dressed up in your best African wear to enter a raffle for a prize for best-dressed Afrocentric King and Queen.A free, healthy soul food lunch is available with an Eventbrite ticket, which can be found at for free lunch is available from for 11:30 to 12 p.m.

In its third year, the event is the brainchild of Velda Goe, founder of Fayeth Gardens, a community planting site to educate and provide a means for urban dwellers to grow healthy food for their families and develop life-sustaining eating habits.

Interested in being a vendor, volunteer, or sponsor? Reach out to FayethGardens@gmail.com

For tickets, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fayeth-gardens-3rd-annual-kwanzaa-celebration-at-hayward-city-hall-tickets-1974966953322