With White Nationalists in the White House, how will celebrities respond to Trump?
#OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign joins me to take an advance look at one event where the culture wars (Hollywood v. Trump) and the debate about racial justice in the Trump Era are sure to escalate: the 89th Academy Awards.
For the first time, Best Picture nominations went to three so-called black films: Fences, Hidden Figures, and Moonlight.
All of these films tell beautiful stories that are not #SoWhite.
When I interviewed April this time last year, a total of zero African American actors were nominated in the individual acting award categories for the 2nd year in a row. At that time, April told me that one of her inspirations for starting the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing, seeing in the Oscar nominations of 2015 and 2016 as the equivalent of “no brothers and sisters up on the wall in Sal’s Pizzeria.”
Today, now that that so many “brothers and sisters” are up on the “wall” of nominees, I ask April if she is taking a victory lap victory lap and declaring mission accomplished. Spoiler alert: no f*cking way.
Also, with White Nationalists in the White House, how will celebrities respond to Trump? And: how does the race of the celebrity speaking out factor in the effectiveness of political speeches at award shows?