Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 1-26-16 Edition

Editorials
Determined To Dream
Tuning Out: Why I Will Not Watch The Oscars
No Oscars For Black Actors Is No Surprise
P resident Barack Obama’s tenure as Commander-in-Chief of America has certainly shown fellow African Ameri- cans that having a Black man in the White House doesn’t necessarily change the Black life experiences in America for the better. So too has Cheryle Boone Isaac’s tenure as Pres- ident of the Academy of Arts Board of Governors proven that having a Black person as President of the Academy of Arts does not necessarily mean Black actors will get a fair
shot at being nominated for Academy Oscar Awards.
Thus, Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith and other Blacks in the movie industry should not be surprised that no Black ac- tors or actresses were nominated for any of the 2016 Oscars. (Even though certain critics might ask, when was the last
time a white actor won a BET award?)
Upon reviewing data on Academy diversity, Jada and
Spike should focus on changing the makeup and operations of the Academy. Sources state that there are nearly 8,000 members of the Academy and that 94 percent of them are white; 6 percent are “Other,” at least 54 percent of them are older than age 60, and 36 percent of them are between the ages 40 and 50.
Furthermore, only 2 percent of the members are under 40 years of age and only 23 percent are female.
Moreover, only 23 percent of the academy members have been nominated for or won an Oscar. Considering the fact that there is no mechanism that ensures the films voted on have been seen by the voters who voted for or against them, it’s certainly not rocket science to understand how and why no Black actors are given the light of day.
It’s time, for a change and transparency at the Academy of Arts, or maybe Black movie-goers should stop looking to the Academy of Arts as experts on the make-up of world- class movies or skip going to the movies at all.
“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”
~Oprah Winfrey
Empowered Greetings Like Martin Luther King, Jr., everyone reading this col- umn should have a dream. It is your dream that will inspire you to get focused on the future you’ve forecast. It is your dream that will motivate you to de- velop a vision that will give you vitality to go for the gusto. It is your dream that will fuel you with the power to pursue your purpose at all cost, so decide
today to dream.
I encourage you not to just
dream, but DREAM BIG. The bigger you dream the bigger the possibilities are for you to broaden your horizons. Dream big to maintain your excitement
Marc H. Morial President and CEO
National Urban League
“The Academy
has a problem.
It’s a problem
that needs to be
solved...For 20
opportunities to
celebrate actors of
color, and actresses of color, to be missed last year is one thing; for that to happen again this year is unforgivable. This insti- tution doesn’t reflect its presi- dent...I am an Academy member and it doesn’t reflect me, and it doesn’t reflect this nation.”
David Oyelowo
Actor, January 2016
It turns out that Hollywood does, in fact, love a sequel.
For the second straight year in a row, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences—the organization behind Hollywood’s biggest and splashiest awards show—failed to nominate a sin- gle actor or actress of color in the lead and supporting acting cate- gories. This year, when pay eq- uity and gender equality were as much a Hollywood narrative as anything screened in local movie theaters, women earned more Oscar nominations (up almost 24% versus 21% in each of the last two years), but they were shut out from the best cine- matography and best director categories—again.
In a nation as diverse as ours, an Oscars ceremony that neither recognizes nor includes the vast artistic talent and contributions
about your educational endeav- ors. Dream big to build your business to be an economic force not just locally but glob- ally. Dream big to make your ministry maximize your mes- sage and move your mission to uncharted borders. Outrageous dreams can lead you to outra- geous outcomes, so dream big.
Get a resolve in your spirit that you are determined to be a dreamer. Determined dreamers have a vision of their success before they begin their journey to their dream. Determined dreamers create action steps that will lead them on the path to discovering their destination. Determined dreamers are brave enough to break the barriers that try to come between them and their dream. Determined dreamers are over-comers and achievers. So, despite what
of women and people of color is a white-washed fiction that would better serve us as the premise of a sci-fi feature and not as a mirror of our multicultural reality.
While my role is not to ques- tion the cinematic credentials of the academy’s 6,291 voting mem- bers, I do question how it is that in a season that produced criti- cally-acclaimed films such as “Beasts of No Nation,” which stars Idris Elba as an African warlord; the N.W.A. biopic “Straight Outta Compton;” and “Creed,” the latest installment in the iconic “Rocky” franchise, there were no Black screenwrit- ers, directors, composers, cine- matographers or actors to be found whose contributions de- served academy recognition.
Ironically enough, two films helmed by either Black actors and/or directors - “Creed” and “Compton” - were recognized by the academy, but their sole nom- inations were denied to people of color, with Sylvester Stallone receiving a best supporting actor nod for his role in “Creed” and writers of “Compton” receiving a nomination for best original screenplay.
A lot of ink has been spilled citing the composition of the academy and its role in travesties like this year’s copycat lock out of talent from communities of color. A much-cited 2012 survey of the academy by the Los Ange- les Times highlights the crux of the problem: the academy’s members are 94% white, 77% male, and an average age of 63 - hardly representative of the di-
dares to distract you, become a determined dreamer.
It is my dream that this col- umn has empowered you to be determined to dream big about the positive possibilities of your desired destiny.
I also want to invite you to join my free “TNT” Thursday Night Training Conference. Call at 7:30 p. m. (EST) to discover more about designing your life to be able to live out your dream. Dial: 1-857-232- 0156, Enter Conference Code: 864720.
It would be my pleasure to be the keynote speaker for your next event or present a personal or professional development training to your group just call 813-956-0185 with your event info.
I want to coach you to suc- cess through any means neces- sary, so let’s stay connected through social media. Follow me on Facebook at Selphenia Nichols, or on the Facebook Business Fan Page: Selphenia Nichols Success Coach To Women, or on Insta- gram at Selphenia, or on Twitter at queenofsucces1.
versity we see in the streets and increasingly on our TV screens.
There was a push for more in- clusion after last year’s infamous snub of the civil rights movie “Selma,” with a record 322 invi- tations sent to join the academy. The list of invitees included fewer than 20 new African-American members, close to 14 Asian and Pacific Islander members and a handful of Latin Americans, ac- cording to “The Wrap,” an indus- try-insider magazine. Here are a few more statistics you should also take into consideration. In its most recent study, the Bunche Center at UCLA found that film studio heads were 94% white and all male and that film studio sen- ior management was 92% white and 83% male. The problem is two-fold.
The struggle to transform the academy into a diverse body that thoughtfully contemplates and recognizes the work of communi- ties who do not fit the cookie cut- ter mold is one that must take place within the academy, but change will remain elusive if there is no transformation of white male dominated studio system that decides what gets made—and perhaps most impor- tantly, what doesn’t get made. Major studios are not greenlight- ing the projects that reflect our nation and the few movies that are produced end up on the cut- ting room floor of the nomina- tion process.
Like so many others, I am scandalized by the shut out of people of color across most major awards categories for the second consecutive year. I will continue to add my voice to the public scrutiny necessary to keep this issue on Hollywood’s front burner. And I will also be doing something else this year: I will not be watching the Oscars. I am not an Academy Award member. I do not green-light films, nor do I direct them. But I do control what does—or doesn’t— appear on my television screen. If we want Hollywood to tune in to our legitimate concerns and issues, I, for one, will be tuning out.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
Orotec And Serve
Versus Comply Or Die
Part One
F irst, let us confirm our support for including the names and plights of all Black murder victims in the annals of the Black Lives Matter movement’s quest for justice for the Black victims of police shootings. We also believe Black Americans must face the reality of the current state for policing in America and lobby strongly for drastic revisions to police screening and virtual training practices. These re- visions must include testing and training for implicit bias and anger management and virtual confrontations with di-
verse ethnic and racial groups.
Indeed, our state of policing attitude is “Comply or Die”
as indicated by the rash of police shootings taking place across the country. Best said by Sunil Dutta, a Los Angeles police officer, “If you don’t want to get shot, tased, pepper- sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you. Don’t argue with me; don’t call me names; don’t tell me that I can’t stop you; don’t say I’m a racist pig; don’t threaten me that you’ll sue me and take away my Badge. Don’t scream at me that you pay my salary, and don’t even think of aggressively walking towards me.”
He forgot to say, “Don’t ask me why I stopped you and don’t tell me you know your rights.” Changing mayors, firing police officers and/or police chiefs may not change the over- all attitude of policing in America. But identifying, analyz- ing, and changing how people think about themselves and each other while providing, far-sighted training based on re- spect and responsibility is a courageous beginning.