The Academy Awards are known for celebrating the talent and hard work of creatives in film. In its nearly century-long history, the Academy of Arts and Sciences has given out over three thousand Oscars, the vast majority of them being awarded to white people in the industry.
The first golden statue to make it into the hands of a Black actor was in 1939 to Hattie McDaniel, who won for Best Supporting Actress in Gone With The Wind. Her character, Mammy, was a stereotype of the enslaved house maid in the film. At the ceremony, she was forced to sit at a segregated table in the back of the room, away from her castmates. It would take the Academy three decades to recognize another Black creative when Sidney Poitier won Best Actor for Lilies of the Field in 1964.
This trend continues today. Since the inception of the Academy Awards in 1929, there have been 13,445 nominees across all categories, with only 6% coming from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. Focusing specifically on Black artists, as of 2025, only 43 have won an Oscar. That is 1.4% of all recipients.
The #OscarsSoWhite movement was created by April Reign in 2015, highlighting the lack of diversity in Academy Award nominations, particularly the repeated exclusion of Black and other non-white artists from major categories.
Over the years, BIPOC actors like Halle Berry, Rita Moreno, Denzel Washington, Michelle Yeoh, Whoopi Goldberg, and more have won Oscars for their talent and work in the industry. There is a long way to go and recognizing the good work of creatives is important. Accolades like the Academy Awards offer a platform for artists to fuel their work and careers.
On March 2nd the Academy will host its 97th annual award show. Various Black nominees have been named like Coleman Domingo, RaMell Ross, and Zoe Saldaña. To borrow a phrase from actor and producer, Issa Rea, Sankofa Impact will be rooting for everybody Black.
