Rhiannon Giddens' Freedom Highway : Julie

Rhiannon Giddens is a singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for her unparalleled mastery of the banjo. According to Rhiannon, in America, "in the first 100 years of its existence, the banjo was known as a plantation instrument, as a black instrument."

Read more …Rhiannon Giddens' Freedom Highway Solo Album: From African akonting, to Enslaved Blacks' Banjo to...

Moonlight: Winner of Best Picture at 89 th Academy Awards

On the night of the 89th Academy Awards, it was La La Land, first. Confusion ensued as presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway found out they had read a wrong title, using the Best Actress envelope. Then, it was confirmed that MoonLight actually was the winner of the Best Picture Award. In the end, both movies scored big.

When Moonlight was announced, the entire audience erupted in cheers and congratulations. Barry Jenkins, Moonlight director, could not believe it. "Very clearly, even in my dreams this could not be true. But to hell with dreams! I am done with it, because this is true!"

Films produced or prominently casting or featuring African-Americans, like Moonlight, won prestigious awards:

  • Moonlight, that had received eight Oscar nominations, won three awards: Best Picture, Adapted Screeplay by Barry Jenkins, and Actress in a Supporting Role by Mahershala Ali
  • Fences won Actress in a Supporting Role by Viola Davis
  • O.J. Made in America won Documentary Feature.

In the end, both Moolight and La La Land won big. La La Land won Best Director, Actress in a Leading Role by Emma Stone, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song.

The incident, now named after the TV personality Steve Harvey, who made a similar mistake during the Miss Universe Ceremonies in December 2015, mistakenly announcing Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez instead of the actual winner and Miss Phillipines,Pia Wurtzbach.

Reacting to the incident, Steve Harvey twitted: "Call me Warren Beatty. I can help you through this!#Oscars". Harvey took responsibility for the Miss Universe blunder, but Warren Beatty appeared to blame the cards for the Oscars gaffe.

Jimmy Kimmel, a talk show host had joked earlier abour the Oscars incident that "This is very unfortunate what happened. Personally I blame Stve Harvey for this."

Moonlight tells a story of a Black man through three phases of his life: as a young boy, a teenager and an adult. The movie touches on several issues, including racial identity, drug, sexual identity, bullying, and poverty. But in the end, it also touched reconciliation, forgiveness and acceptance.

 

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