The Oscars 2016: What Might Dr. King Say?

I woke up this morning to a passionate MLK Day video message on Facebook from Jada Pinkett Smith declaring that she would boycott the Oscars, that have once again nominated only White actors for any of its awards, and urging people of color to stand in unison in our own power and stop diminishing that power and our dignity by begging for "love, acknowledgement or respect" from any other group. Appropriately on this day as we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, her message suggests that it is time we instead create our own, believe and invest in ourselves and in our own projects. Well Good For Jada! I agree with her 100% and feel that all Black folks, viewers and industry folk alike, including Chris Rock, should take the bold step of boycotting the Oscar Awards ceremony. Additionally, I think that Gays and at least liberal Whites, particularly those in the industry, should join us or engage in some other form of protest.

Dr. King Might Say:

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

 

Last week I suggested that the Black female President of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaac, should be more than a figure head symbolizing for the rest of us to see, a face of diversity. She should feel empowered to boldly step outside her comfort zone and into the power of her role as President, apologize to the public for any inconvenience and exercise her authority to rescind the nominations as announced and direct the board to go back to the drawing board and come up with a better and more fair representation of nominees. This week I go even beyond last week's call for action and also challenge liberal Whites and the Gay community, particularly those in the industry, to boycott, speak up or otherwise express objection to the total disregard and disrespect of their non-White peers. The Gay community claims to share the burdens of civil injustices inflicted upon the Black community and liberals claim to feel our pain. So DO SOMETHING! Take a stand! It is not good enough that year after year artists accept awards acknowledging that perhaps the award was better deserved by someone else as did Macklemore when he was given a Grammy and later stated that he felt another artist, Kendrick Lamar, had "been robbed" and that in his opinion the award "should have gone" to him. It would have been more impressive and sent a much more powerful message had he made the statement on air or later made a very public transfer of the award to Mr. Lamar. That is taking a stand! To not correct or speak out against these type of wrongs today is no different than when jim crow or other customs of America past systematically excluded Blacks from being considered for these awards.

Dr. King Might Say:

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter". 

Apparently like many in the Black community, I no longer watch mainstream awards shows. I totally gave up on them after Angela Bassett was robbed of the Best Actress award in 1994 for her magnificent performance in What's Love Got to Do With It. That was the final straw of blatant disrespect and rejection of Black talent for me. I didn't need to watch these programs and be disappointed with the predictable outcome. I am quite happy and look forward to watching BET, NAACP or Soul Train Awards.

Nor do I watch old movies or sit coms that I so enjoyed as a child. As I got older I became painfully aware and mostly offended by the absence of Black actors and Black themes. Think back to all of those shows we watched growing up in the 60's, early 70's and before, we accepted as "normal" and subliminally accepted as "reality", that there was not one Black face on these programs. What was the message being sent to all of us? As Black children, what affect did that have on our psyche not seeing as normal, real, successful or glamorous people who looked like us? The power of media is not to be under estimated. Nor is the power of social media so I write... 

When Blacks finally did begin appearing on TV, nothing could replace the joy of getting up on Saturday mornings to see Soul Train instead of American Bandstand, Fat Albert or the Jackson 5 cartoon instead of Scooby Doo or The Archie Show, or in prime time to hear George Jefferson throw insults at Archie Bunker. We loved and understood the sibling love between Thelma and JJ on Good Times much more than we could relate to that of Brady's or the Partridge Family. Our heartthrobs were now Lionel from the Jeffersons, Lamont on Sanford & Son or Clifton Davis on That's My Mama instead of the Fonz, Starsky & Hutch or David Cassidy. We even had crushes on Freddie Prinz from Chico and the Man. He was a fine,  Brown and Puerto Rican! And what Black man did not drool over the mere sight of Pam Grier on the big screen? We had plenty of movies. And later, like it or not, we could not have been more proud of or inspired by the Huxtables. 

Black folks were not only thrilled to see reflections of ourselves on TV and on the big screen, more importantly, our souls and our psyche were nourished by it. James Brown was telling us we were Black and we were Proud. We were singing it, seeing it and believing it! EVERYBODY was making money off this new segment of entertainment and still our stars were not recognized for their work. Enter BET Awards, Soul Train Awards, NAACP Image Awards... We started recognizing our own work and celebrating ourselves. I think Dr. King would have approved of our being resourceful, takin stock in and affirming ourselves and moving forward... 

Dr. King Might Say:

"If you can't fly then run, if you can run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward".

Given the chance to interview old actors or old singers, some knowingly and blatantly stole and recorded as their own music from Black entertainers, I would ask them, particularly those who thought themselves "cool", "hip" or  liberal, if like Macklemore, they ever felt in anyway that they had cheated or "robbed" some Black entertainer of rightful recognition denied him or her because s/he could not/would not be acknowledged for their work? If ever, while gazing at the award so proudly displayed in their home or office, they privately engaged in self talk and wondered if the playing field had been fair and unbiased, would they have won the award, if all else being equal if they felt the value of their work was fairly assessed against that of others not considered. More important or realistically however, I would ask why or how, almost without exception, they said or did nothing for so many years and just went along with or allowed blatant bigotry and discrimination to persist in Hollywood.

Dr. King Might Say:

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Sadly however, if given the chance today, despite the efforts of Dr. King and the sacrifices of other civil rights workers, Black and White, I would ask our current "liberal" entertainers the exact same questions. How is it that some 40 plus years later, they still seem too comfortable ignoring ostracization of their peers? How is that still they seem comfortable accepting awards when those, who they now call colleague, husband, wife and sometimes friend and with whom they now freely perform, are systematically excluded from consideration for that which is thought to be the highest of honors in their profession? When 100% of the nominees are White, as is the case again this year, more than just Black entertainers should be upset and disappointed. How is anyone not disappointed and moved to pose questions, protest the actions of the board or to object in some way? While some non-Blacks in the industry have expressed shock or joked about their disbelief that again the academy of "good ole' boys" has slighted Black and Latino actors, none have taken a bold stand against the preference given them or the slight of their peers. 

Dr. King might say:

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends"...   

In all honesty, in light of all that is currently going on in America to deliberately dismantle his work, despite his undoubted disappointment, if given an opportunity to weigh on any single issue of today, I suffer from no elusion that he would not be bothered with the Oscars. This much I know for sure... But I have a pretty strong suspicion that he would support the concept of a boycott to send a powerful message to the Academy and others but most importantly as a spark to wake Black folks and other Americans up! Yeah, I'm pretty sure he would approve...  

Jada Pinkett Smith and now Spike Lee are right to boycott the ceremonies. I advocate however taking take their protest a step further and ask that others, Black, Brown and White, join with them and the fans to demonstrate to the Academy Board and the President that which we teach our children, zero tolerance of racism and bigotry. Force or embarrass them into Doin' the Right Thing! I'm Just Sayin', we teach folks how to treat us...   


In closing I quote two great men: 

"To remain neutral in situations of injustice, is to be complicit in that injustice.” 

~ Dr. Desmond Tutu ~

And Finally, Dr. King Might Say:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy".

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Take A Stand!