"Glory" Best Song at Academy Awards; no Black actors/directors win

Hattie McDaniel was first Black to receive an Oscar in 1941.
She played Mammy in "Gone with the Wind" movie.

Although no Black directors or actors received an Oscar last night, John Legend's lyrics and Common's rap won accolades for "Best Song."

"One day, when the glory comes, it will be ours, it will be ours" is akin to "We shall overcome someday" which leads us to believe that true freedom is for the future, not now.

On the QUARTZ website, the 2015 Academy Awards were deemed "The Monochrome Awards" when "only white actors get to be ordinary."

"Of course Hollywood has a race problem," writes Morgan Jenkins. "This disadvantage is manifested in a number of ways, but the question of what black actors and directors are 'allowed' to create is directly related to Hollywood’s fraught relationship with minorities."

Photo credit: David Levy, 2008 (Focus Features)

A Mexican director known as El Negro, Alejandro González Iñárritu, won three awards last night for his film, "Birdman." Born in Mexico City, El Negro has traveled and worked extensively in Europe and Africa.

Before presenting him the Oscar for "Best Picture", Sean Penn exclaimed, “Who gave this son of a bitch his green card?” which was viewed by some as racist but by others as a slap at U.S. immigration policies.



Isaacs (Photo credit: Mingle Media TV)

Let's not forget, however, that Cheryl Boone Isaacs, an African American female, was elected the Academy’s first African-American president in 2013, and she remains in that position today.

Isaacs is a marketing and political science professional.