The Academy Awards\u2019 ceremony was definitely a sight this year, (a very LONG sight, longest in history\u2013but that\u2019s another story) and three black actors very worthy of their salt, came to be history makers. You already know that Sidney Portier was awarded for lifetime achievement by the Academy for years of work in such films as Lillies In The Field<\/i>, To Sir With Love<\/i>, and A Raisin In The Sun<\/i>, among many others. Mr. Portier is, to me, one of the most courageous, talented, and handsome, of all black actors in history. He had begun his career after WWII, when there was no such thing as a leading black man in films, behind or in front of the camera.<\/p>\n
Denzel Washington won for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his character acting in Training Day<\/i>, which I had not seen but heard it was definitely Denzel Washington\u2019s best job at portraying someone besides himself (LOL). I say this because almost everything I\u2019ve seen him do previously is pretty much Denzel acting as Denzel. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I don\u2019t dislike the man. I think he\u2019s a very handsome, intelligent, and warm gentleman, but he did his best (IMO) in the movie Glory,<\/i> The Bone Collector<\/em>, and in most of Malcom X<\/i>.<\/p>\n Then Halle Berry was awarded the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in Monster\u2019s Ball<\/i>, which I plan to see when it comes out in rentals. I first fell in love with her back in 1993, shortly after her big breakout in Boomerang<\/i>. It was where she played the role of \u2018Queen\u2019 in the TV mini-series Queen<\/i>. This was based on Alex Haley\u2019s sequel novel to Roots<\/i>, also of the same name (the story of his mother\u2019s side of the family). Anyway, as much as I adore Halle Berry, I give more of a nod of approval to the way Misters Washington and Portier acknowledged receipt of their awards. Both men not only expressed their thanks toward those who helped them succeed in their work, but also pointed out that they were most grateful because of the fact that the award was given to them based on their talent and acting merit, and didn\u2019t really play on the minority winner aspect. I do applaud Halle very much on her win, and still adore her, but I did find a part of her speech somewhat humorous. It was that, among those black actresses she listed, who have come before her but never won the highest honors, she did not include Whoopi Goldberg. Did Miss Goldberg NOT work hard in her role in the Oscar-nominated movie The Color Purple<\/i>? She did indeed. I\u2019m not sure whether Miss Berry\u2019s aim was intended to include ONLY those black actresses nominated in the past for Best Actress (Cicely Tyson for Sounder<\/i>, and Diana Ross for Lady Sings the Blues<\/i>, both in 1972), or just all black actresses. In my opinion, The Color Purple<\/i> still stands as Whoopi\u2019s only real credit to her true acting ability and I also think she is a good host and comic, altough she wasn\u2019t ever nominated by the Academy. Even so, I myself would have DEFINITELY gave a nod to Whoopi, simply because it would have shown good taste, being that she was standing in the same room.<\/p>\n \nOther posts on this day:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Academy Awards\u2019 ceremony was definitely a sight this year, (a very LONG sight, longest in history\u2013but that\u2019s another story) and three black actors very worthy of their salt, came to be history makers. You already know that Sidney Portier was awarded for lifetime achievement by the Academy for years of work in such films … <\/p>\n