In the words of the immortal James Brown, “I don’t want nobody to give me nothing. Open up the door, I’ll get it myself.” On Saturday January 30, the Screen Actors Guild awarded four Black actors with gold statuettes for stellar achievements, in the face of recent controversy surrounding nearly all-White nominations for this month’s 88th annual Academy Awards. Over the weekend, Twitter drowned out the ubiquitous #OscarsSoWhite hashtag with a heavily trending #SAGSoBlack.
Idris Elba walked away with two major wins: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for the crime drama Luther, and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Beasts of No Nation (a role many believed deserved Oscar recognition). Uzo Aduba was also awarded two statues for Orange Is the New Black—Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy.
Other wins included Queen Latifah for her role in the HBO biopic of blues singer Bessie Smith (Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries), and Viola Davis for How to Get Away with Murder (Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series). The Oscars should be so diverse. Kudos to Black excellence!
