Today In Black History

If you were to ask the average Joe walking down the street who the first black woman to win an Academy Award was, a lot of them could tell you; it was in 1939, and the actress was Hattie McDaniels who played in Gone With the Wind as the O'Hara's cook/nanny. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Now, who was the first black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress? That's just a little tougher, isn't it? Today in Black History in 2001, the movie was Monster's Ball, and the winner was (drum-roll please) Halle Berry for Best Actress! Yes, in 2001 Halle Berry won the Oscar for playing  the role of Leticia Musgrove.

There was also another first that year for blacks in the Academy Awards. 2001 would be the first time that two black performers had won not just nominations, but Oscars for their leading rolls in their movies. Halle Berry won for Monster's Ball, and Denzel Washington won for Training Day!

There have been many triumphs over the years when it came to the Academy Awards, but in my opinion not nearly enough. Between 1958 and 2012 there were 4 black men who won an Oscar for Best Actor; Sidney Poitier - Lilies of the Field, Denzel Washington - Training Day, Jamie Foxx - Ray, and Forest Whitaker - Last King of Scotland. In the same period, 1958 - 2012, only one black woman won an Academy Award for Best Actress, and that was Halle Berry in Monster's Ball.

There have been 4 black producers whose films were nominated for Best Picture. They were Quincy Jones for the Color Purple, Lee Daniels - Precious, Broderick Johnson - The Blind Side, and Reginald Hudlin - Django Unchained. None of the films won.

And to add a little known black history fact:

In 1967, there were two black actresses nominated for Best Supporting Actress; one was for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and the actress was Beah Richards. The other was for the film Thoroughly Modern Millie, and the actress was Carol Channing! (For more information, visit this Wikipedia page.)

List of African American Academy Awards Winners and Nominees