Black excellence kicked off the 91st annual Academy Awards when Regina King won the first award of the night and also her first Oscar for her in role Barry Jenkins’ ‘If Beale Could Street Could Talk.’
Then Ruth E. Carter won her long-overdue Oscar for Best Costume Design, becoming the first Black woman to win in the category.
Black girl magic continued to shine as ‘Black Panther’s Hannah Beachler made history as the first Black person to win Best Production Design. As a matter of fact, Carter and Beachler became the first Black women since 1984 to take home non-acting wins.
Mahershala Ali then took home his second Oscar for his role in ‘Green Book’, making him the first Black actor to win two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. He also joins Denzel Washington as the only Black actors to win multiple Oscars for acting.
When ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ won Best Animated Feature, Peter Ramsey became the first Black director to win an Oscar in the category.
Then, a moment 30 years in the making finally happened… Spike Lee won his first competitive Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for ‘BlaKkKlansman’ – and his Morehouse brother Samuel Jackson presented it to him. His reaction? Priceless.
Lee shares the award with another Black filmmaker, Kevin Willmott. With seven record wins, Black artists made Oscar history as it was the first time ever that seven Black men and women won Academy Awards for categories in front of and behind the camera.
We make Black history every day!