Black, Latin Actors, Directors Try to Tell Their Stories

At Sunday's Academy Awards, or Oscars, in Los Angeles, Angela Bassett will be one of the few Black actors considered for a major award.

Bassett is nominated for a best supporting actor award for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It is her second Oscar nomination¹ in 40 years of acting² in movies.

At the recent African American Film Critics Association Awards, Bassett explained that every time she takes a part in a film, she wants the part to change how people think about Black women.

She said she wants to "show our humanity, to tell the diversity of our stories and to share the complexity³ of what it means to be Black and women."

The 64-year-old actor was nominated for an Oscar 29 years ago for her lead part in the 1993 film What's Love Got To Do With It.

Her comments seem to represent a common thinking among many people of color in the industry: Change in support of diversity is too slow. While some improvements followed the 2015 online protest #OscarsSoWhite, activists⁴ argue, much more is required.

In that year, white performers received all 20 nominations⁵ for the four acting awards.

This year, no actors of color received awards at the major British film awards known as the BAFTAs. In the U.S., the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been criticized for not nominating the movies Till or The Woman King for any of the major awards. Both are films with mainly Black casts directed by Black women.

"There's a constant lack of recognition for Black female directors," said Gina Prince-Bythewood, director of The Woman King. "There's never been a Black female director nominated in the history of the Academy Awards," she added.

As a result, more Black actors, directors and producers are starting their own companies to make movies and television programs.

These creators follow in the footsteps of people like Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry and Shonda Rhimes.

The new creators include writers Amy Aniobi and Felicia Pride, actor Khalimah Gaston and filmmakers Fanny and Nelson Grande.

Aniobi worked for a number of years on the successful HBO program Insecure, created by and starring Issa Rae who is Black, as were the majority of the show's main cast.

Now, Aniobi has a deal with HBO to develop new shows.

She says one problem is that while the number of projects for Black creators is increasing, the amount of money they get for their work is decreasing.

She said one way to make sure Black creators have more work is to work with other Black producers, writers and actors.

"When we are invested in each other as people, we don't think 'it's you or me.' It's for both of us or none of us," Aniobi said.

Pride has written for Rhimes' television show Grey's Anatomy⁶ and worked with Oprah Winfrey as well. Now, the creator has her own company, Honey Chile. It centers on making shows and movies that will appeal to Black women over the age of 40.

Gaston started a company called The Screening Room in 2016. The business creates cooperative spaces in Los Angeles and Atlanta, Georgia for diverse industry members to support each other. Black Entertainment Network, or BET, recently picked up a web series presented by the company.

In addition to those who want to tell Black stories, there are also producers who want to tell Latino stories.

Fanny and Nelson Grande started a company called Avenida Productions to help make films and programs with Latino actors and producers.

"Every Latino actor I've met has dealt with the same thing of not getting opportunities, or having to play negative stereotypes⁸...," Fanny Grande said.

When no production companies gave her a chance, she sought financing through crowdfunding within her community. The result, a 2021 film Homebound, that centered on the life of a Latin American family.

Words in This Story

diversity –n. the quality of having many different forms, types or ideas

cast –n. the entire group of actors in a film or theater production

constant –adj. happening often

negative –adj. harmful or bad, not wanted

stereotype⁷ –n. an often untrue belief people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic

crowdfund –n. asking a large group of people to give a small amount of money to finance a projec

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

6 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

7 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

8 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》