Chinoye Chukwu, Director of Till, one of the many Black movies in contention for this year Oscars has spoken out against the Academy Awards for “unabashed misogyny towards black women.”
“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women.”
-Chinoye Chukwu
Based on the true story of Emmet Till, whose son was lynched to death in 1955, Till was widely tipped to be one of the notable frontrunners for this year’s award, with Danielle Deadwyler as a strong contender in the Best Actress category.
The Oscars record for honouring Black Women is egregious. In 95 years of its inception, only once has a Black woman been awarded the Best Actress Award — Halle Barre for Monster’s Ball (2001).
“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women,” Chukwu said in an Instagram post, captioned for a photo of her with Myrlie Ever-Williams, the prominent civil rights activist.
Chukwu’s Till is not the only big Black movie omission this year. Viola Davis starred and produced The Woman King was also overlooked by the Academy Awards Committee.
Chukwu also paid homage to Black women and artists who overcome systemic hurdles and ingrained racism to make a name for themselves in spheres of arts and performance.
“I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life — regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance,” the post says.
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