Shoulda, Coulda, Did & Why?

Well since it's the Academy Award season I thought I would give my opinion on African American nominees & winners over the years. You may not care what I think, but I'm giving it to you anyway. Feel free to lay your opinion on me, I would love to know what you think.


1) Hattie McDaniel won the very first Oscar among African Americans. She won it for Gone With The Wind. Her role was "Mammy." I am proud of her for this accomplishment, although many have grumbled under their breath about her winning for playing a Mammy. One person said to me, suppose someone won today for playing a video hoe girl, wouldn't you be mad. My response was if a large percent of African American women had jobs as video girls in real life it wouldn't be an inaccurate representation. The fact is, at the time that Ms. McDaniel played that role their were many African American women, including my grandmothers working in the homes of White women. I can appreciate that Blacks pushed for a higher depiction of us, but I can also appreciate her role and award.

2) That brings me to the Oscar for It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp. Three Six Mafia Won, and I am not in the camp of being mad at them. Bash me if you need to, but I sang that song a lot when it was out. I felt like it was hard for me a pimp of the system. Plus, I also felt a little empathy for a real Pimp's situation. I had no idea that a prostitute would leave if the Pimp didn't have cadillac, rent, and gas money. Hey, I learned something about his struggles I am fully aware of how wrong I sound, but yet I persist .


3) Quincy Jones is quite the man in the Academy Award arena. He has been nominated in three categories and he hasn't done bit of acting. He was nominated for Best Picture Producer of The Color Purple, He was nominated for Best Original Song the movies were, For the Love of Ivy, a movie I've recommended here. Other films were The Eyes of Love, The Color Purple. The third category was for Best Score The Color Purple,The Wiz, and In Cold Blood. Needless to say, I think he should have won at least one of those, but hey we know how Hollywood is.


4) I also still feel like Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne should have both won for Best Leading Man & Woman in What's Love Got to Do With It. They were cheated and that's all I'll say about that.

5) Halle Berry won the Best Actress for an African American Women and I've often asked myself why . Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson, & Whoopi Goldberg were nominees in this category too. No disrespect to Halle, but each one of these women did a better job in their roles than Halle. However, I really appreciated the homage Halle paid to her predecessors. IMO they each have done a comparable if not a better Job than Meryl Streep in many of her roles, for which she has won the Oscar.

6) Denzel is a great actor and I am happy that he has won two Oscars, he deserves them because he has taken great care in choosing his roles. Could you imagine where Rap music would be if rappers chose their songs to release in the same manner in which Denzel has made his choices.

7) Some of my other favorite nominees and winners are Sidney Portier, Spike Lee, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Queen Latifah, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, James Earl Jones, Will Smith (he was robbed for Ali), & Don Cheadle.

Looking at this list of great nominees and winners, only shows we have come a long, long way and I really appreciate the progress. Good luck to Viola Davis & Taraji P. Henson. I"ll be watching on Sunday, at least until their part goes off.

BTW- I didn't forget Jennifer Hudson, I just feel like she didn't do too much more than what Jennifer Holliday did when she won the Tony. However, considering she followed the role that Jennifer Holliday laid out for her to the letter, she was a little ungracious and forgot to give a proper thank you to her predecessor. I think she said something like "oh yeah thanks Jennifer Holliday" after the music hard rushed her off. Not to mention the many interviews before and after, where she continued in her path... I'm just saying. Here's the original role.