From Huff Post Black Voices:
2014 was a pivotal year for black actors, actresses and directors, which included ?12 Years A Slave? netting nine nominations — however things didn’t exactly pan out the same way this year.
Thursday?s announcement of the 87th annual Academy Awards nominations created a significant amount of criticism as ?Selma? director Ava DuVernay and lead actor David Oyelowo failed to land a nomination out of the Academy?s 24 categories.
Despite the film landing two nominations (Best Picture and Best Original Song), DuVernay?s omission from this year?s nominees underscores the Academy?s ongoing diversity gap, making it the whitest Oscars in the last 17 years. According to a 2014 Lee & Low Books infographic, Halle Berry was the only black woman to have ever scored an Academy Award for Best Actress since the Academy Awards were founded in 1927; and of the Best Director awards that have been given out, just one has ever been given to a woman.
Read more at Huff Post Black Voices.
