This Sunday night will be historic for Will Packer Media. It’s the 94th Oscars, produced by none other than Will Packer and Shayla Cowan – the first all-Black producing team in Oscars’ history.
And xoNecole, a WPM brand, will also be in the building for the first time at Hollywood’s famous Dolby Theater and on the red carpet with Content Queen Danielle Young chatting up your fave nominees, presenters and guests.
Danielle caught up with Shayla earlier this week to get the scoop on what we can expect, so we know that for the first time in history there will be three women hosting the Oscars: Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer.
We also know that BEYONCÉ is going to shut the stage down, as she always does, with a performance of her Oscar-nominated song from King Richard, “Be Alive.” The Black presenters at the Oscars include Serena and Venus, Ruth E. Carter, Diddy, Tiffany Haddish, H.E.R., Samuel L. Jackson, Daniel Kaluuya, Zoë Kravitz, Lupita Nyong’o, Tracee Ellis Ross, Tyler Perry and more. It’s safe to say that we can expect some heavy Blackness at the 2022 Oscars.
But who will be in the winners’ circle by the end of the night? Black Hollywood is only up for a few awards, with only four Black actors nominated in the acting category, two films nominated in documentary categories, one in costume design, two in make-up and hairstyling and one for the night’s biggest award: Best Picture. Let’s take a look at their chances.
I appeared on the UK's Sky News to offer up some predictions of the night. Watch below:
Best Actor: Will Smith
It’s been twenty years since Will Smith and Denzel Washington faced off in the Best Actor category at the Oscars. In 2002, Denzel took home the statue for Training Day over Will’s Ali performance. This year, it’s Will’s turn. As the titular character in King Richard, Will shines as Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena and the visionary architect of their careers since before they were born. Denzel is fantastic as MacBeth in The Tragedy of MacBeth, but based on how awards season is shaking out, with Will racking up awards at every ceremony from the NAACP Image Awards to the BAFTAs and Critics Choice Awards, it would be a major upset if Will didn’t take home the gold. Here's a clip from his performance which you can watch in full on HBOMax:
Best Actress: No One Black
20 years ago, halle berry won the oscar for 'best actress' becoming the first black woman to win in said category pic.twitter.com/ePEbkTSh9o
— old MTV (@notgwendalupe) March 23, 2022
Also at the 2002 Oscars, Halle Berry made history as the first Black woman to win Best Actress. She tearfully accepted the award and celebrated that “this door tonight has been opened” for Black women. Twenty years later, Halle remains the only Black woman to win the award. Zero Black women were nominated this year, when Jennifer Hudson’s outstanding performance as Aretha Franklin in Respect and Tessa Thompson’s compelling performance in Passing were right there. Of the five white women nominated, my bet is on Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but Kristen Stewart’s transformation into Lady Diana in Spencer should win.
Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose
The always incredible Aunjanue Ellis is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Oracene Price, Venus and Serena’s formidable mother, in King Richard. Even with all of her excellence, she still had to fight to be paid fairly for her Oscar-nominated role. I hope this nomination solidifies the respect she’s long-since deserved. But the win is going to Ariana DeBose. The Afro-Latina star of West Side Story sang, danced and acted her way into every major award this season, picking up a BAFTA and a Critics Choice award in the same night just a few weeks ago. Ariana is the brightest part of Steven Spielberg’s remake and she’ll make history by winning the same award Rita Moreno won in the 1961 original West Side Story for the same role of Maria. Here's a clip of Ariana as Maria:
Best Song: Not Beyoncé
The first time I heard Beyoncé’s “Be Alive” as the credits rolled on King Richard, I had chills. The transition from minor to major chords, the lyrics of pride in our Blackness, all over a montage of the real Richard coaching the real Venus and Serena into becoming the greatest athletes of all time, embodied their triumph over every obstacle put in their path. It’s such a moving, beautiful song that was made for us. But while Beyoncé has forever won my heart, the Oscar will probably go to Lin-Manuel Miranda for Encanto’s “Dos Oruguitas,” making him the youngest EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner in history. Listen to "Be Alive" here:
Best Documentary Feature: Summer of Soul
?uestlove, in his directorial debut, Summer of Soul, has been racking up the wins all season for his documentary on the six-week summer concert series in 1969 Harlem remembered as "Black Woodstock". On Oscars night, that trend will likely continue, with The Roots' drummer bringing home his first Oscar.
But iconic director Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry are also up for the award for their heartbreaking documentary Attica, which covers the 1971 uprising in Attica, NY state prison. It draws much needed attention to the consequences of mass incarceration and the broken prison system today. Attica is truly Oscar-worthy as well. You can watch the documentary in full for free on Showtime.
Best Costume Design: Dune
Famous designer Paul Tazewell is up for his first Oscar nomination for West Side Story. His immaculate designs are worthy of the praise beyond this nomination. But based on how the awards season has been shaking out so far, the front-runner going into Oscars night is Dune, though the team from Cruella did take the award at the Critics Choice Awards a few weeks back. Here's a look at Paul's work which you can watch in full on HBOMax:
Best Make-up and Hair-Styling: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Two Black women are a part of Coming 2 America’s Oscar-nominated hair and make-up team, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer, along with prosthetics expert Mike Marino. While the hair and make-up, alongside Ruth Carter’s costume designs, were the best part about that film, the Oscars love a biopic and a full-on transformation, so the statue will likely go to the team behind Jessica Chastain’s redemptive transformation into (in)famous televangelist Tammy Faye for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Here's a look at Stacey and Carla's work, which you can watch in full on Prime Video:
Best Picture: CODA
Will Smith’s King Richard is up for Best Picture but the heartwarming film has only a slight chance of winning. The Producers Guild Awards Best Picture winners have predicted the Oscars Best Picture winners for the past 22 years, and another heartwarming coming of age film about a child of deaf adults CODA just won the PGA. If AppleTV+’s CODA wins it will be quite the upset, as Netflix’s The Power of the Dog has been racking up the win all season. But either way, it’s likely a streamer will take home the Best Picture win.
Will you be tuning in?
For Us, By Us: How HBCU Alumni Are Building Legacies Through Entrepreneurship
Homecoming season is here, and alumni are returning to the yard to celebrate with their friends and family at the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that have changed their lives forever.
No matter where their life journeys have taken them, for HBCU students from near and far, returning to where it all started can invoke feelings of nostalgia, appreciation for the past, and inspiration for the future.
The seeds for these entrepreneurs were planted during their time as students at schools like Spelman, North Carolina A&T, and more, which is why xoNecole caught up with Look Good Live Well’s Ariane Turner, HBCU Buzz’s Luke Lawal and Morehouse Senior Director of Marketing and Comms and Press Secretary Jasmine Gurley to highlight the role their HBCU roots play in their work as entrepreneurs, the legacy they aim to leave behind through the work that they do, and more as a part of Hyundai’s Best In Class initiative.
On Honoring HBCU Roots To Create Something That Is For Us, By Us
Ariane Turner
Courtesy
When Ariane Turner launched Look Good, Live Well, she created it with Black and brown people in mind, especially those with sensitive skin more prone to dryness and skin conditions like acne and eczema.
The Florida A&M University graduate launched her business to create something that addressed topical skin care needs and was intentional about its approach without negative terminology.
Turner shared that it is important to steer clear of language often adopted by more prominent brands, such as “banishing breakouts” or “correcting the skin,” because, in reality, Turner says there is nothing wrong with the way that our skin and bodies react to various life changes.
“I think what I have taken with me regarding my HBCU experience and translated to my entrepreneurial experience is the importance of not just networking,” Turner, the founder and CEO of Look Good, Live Well, tellls xoNecole.
“We hear that in business all the time, your network is your net worth, but family, there’s a thing at FAMU that we call FAMU-lee instead of family, and it’s very much a thing. What that taught me is the importance of not just making relationships and not just making that connection, but truly working on deepening them, and so being intentional about connecting with people initially, but staying connected and building and deepening those relationships, and that has served me tremendously in business, whether it’s being able to reach back to other classmates who I went to school with, or just networking in general.”
She adds, “I don’t come from a business background. As soon as I finished school, I continued with my entrepreneurial journey, and so there’s a lot of that traditional business act and the networking, those soft skills that I just don’t have, but I will say that just understanding how to leverage and network community and to build intentional relationships is something that has taken me far and I definitely got those roots while attending FAMU.”
On Solving A Very Specific Need For The Community
Luke Lawal Jr.
Courtesy
When Luke Lawal Jr. launched HBCU Buzz, his main focus was to represent his community, using the platform to lift as they climbed by creating an outlet dedicated to celebrating the achievements and positive news affecting the 107 historically HBCUs nationwide.
By spotlighting the wonderful things that come from the HBCU community and coupling it with what he learned during his time at Bowie State University, Lawal used that knowledge to propel himself as an entrepreneur while also providing his people with accurate representation across the internet.
“The specific problem in 2011 when I started HBCU Buzz was more so around the fact that mainstream media always depict HBCUs as negative,” Lawal says. “You would only see HBCUs in the mainstream media when someone died, or the university president or someone was stepping down. It was always bad news, but they never shed light on all the wonderful things from our community."
So, I started HBCU Buzz to ensure the world saw the good things that come from our space. And they knew that HBCUs grew some of the brightest people in the world, and just trying to figure out ways to make sure our platform was a pedestal for all the students that come through our institutions.”
“The biggest goal is to continue to solve problems, continue to create brands that solve the problems of our communities, and make sure that our products, our brands, our companies, and institutions are of value and they’re helping our community,” he continues. “That they’re solving problems that propel our space forward.”
On How Being An HBCU Alum Impacts The Way One Shows Up In The World
Jasmine Gurley
Courtesy
Jasmine Gurley is a proud North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University alum. She is even more delighted with her current role, which enables her to give back to current HBCU students as the Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Communications and official press secretary at Morehouse College.
“It was a formative experience where I really was able to come into my own and say yes to all the opportunities that were presented to me, and because of that, it’s been able to open the doors later in life too,” says Gurley of her experience at North Carolina A&T. “One thing I love about many HBCUs is that we are required to learn way more about African American history than you do in your typical K through 12 or even at the higher ed level."
She adds, “It allowed us to have a better understanding of where we came from, and so for me, because I’m a storyteller, I’m a history person, I’m very sensitive to life in general, being able to listen to the stories and the trials that our ancestors overcame, put the battery pack in my back to say, ‘Oh nothing can stop me. Absolutely nothing can stop me. I know where I came from, so I can overcome something and try anything. And I have an obligation to be my ancestors’ wildest dreams. Simultaneously, I also have a responsibility to help others realize that greatness.
Gurley does not take her position at an HBCU, now as a leader, lightly.
“People think I’m joking when I say I’m living the dream, but I really am,” she notes. “So I wake up every day and know that the work that I do matters, no matter how hard it might be, how frustrating it may be, and challenging it. I know the ripple effect of my work, my team, and what this institution does also matter. The trajectory of Black male experiences, community, history, and then just American advancement just in general.”
On the other hand, through her business, Sankofa Public Relations, Gurley is also on a mission to uplift brands in their quest to help their respective communities. Since its inception in 2017, Sankofa PR has been on a mission to “reach back and reclaim local, national, and global communities by helping those actively working to move” various areas of the world, focusing on pushing things forward for the better.
“Through Sankofa, we’ve worked with all different types of organizational brands and individuals in several different industries, but I would think of them as mission-based,” says Gurley.
“So with that, it’s an opportunity to help people who are trying to do good in the world, and they are passionate about what they’re doing. They just need help with marketing issues, storytelling, and branding, and that’s when my expertise can come into play. Help them get to that moment where they can tell their story through me or another platform, and that’s been super fulfilling.”
Join us in celebrating HBCU excellence! Check out our Best In Class hub for inspiring stories, empowering resources, and everything you need to embrace the HBCU experience.
Feature image courtesy
The Kamala Effect: Top Black Women In Politics To Watch Now, Into 2025
With a landmark Election Day coming up soon, everyone will be watching to see whether Vice President Kamala Harris makes history by becoming the first Black woman to become president of the United States. And as she has gathered monumental support from Black women around the world (including the more than 44,000 who raised millions in minutes shortly after she announced she’d be running), other Black women politicians also stand to make history in their respective elections, running to serve local and statewide communities.
Just as there have been barriers to Black women serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (with only four having been appointed to those roles), there’s a massive glass ceiling for Black women in politics as well. Only 0.4% of all members of Congress identified as Black, and only 13.4% of all women who have served in Congress to date have identified as Black, according to research.
To date, no Black woman has served as governor of a state (though there has been a Black woman lieutenant governor, which we’ll get to later.)
Glass Ceiling In Politics For Black Women
Black women face the ever-so-usual gender bias and racism when running for office, but they also have to deal with another major deterrent to launching a viable campaign: funding. According to the Washington Post, while campaign fundraising “overall” saw a boost for women in 2020 compared with 2018, “Black women across party lines raised significantly less money than White women.”
The publication further reported that in 2020, data reflected “that the 113 active Black women candidates running on all tickets raised nearly $81 million in the first three quarters compared to the nearly $811 million pulled in by their 379 active White women counterparts across party lines, according to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics. More than $1.5 billion was raised by over 1,000 White men from all parties in the same timeframe.”
Paying staff, covering marketing and ads, travel expenses, and more are all vital and very costly, expanding one’s reach, impact, and exposure to land the votes. This is one major reason that, when Black women finally make it to the finish line with enough support to get a serious spot on the ballot, it’s more than a big deal.
So, here are a few Black women in politics who have made history, continue to push barriers, and powerhouses to watch as we near Election Day on November 5:
Angela Alsobrooks
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A Maryland native, Angela Alsobrooks graduated from Duke University and the University of Maryland School of Law. She worked as a law clerk in the Howard County Circuit Court and the Baltimore City Circuit Court before taking on the role of Assistant State’s Attorney in Prince George’s County, a role in which she made history as the youngest and first woman in the role. She’s now running for the state senator seat in Maryland, which, if she wins, would make her the fourth Black woman in history to serve in the Senate.
Winsome Earle-Sears
Winsome Earle-Sears is a native of Kingston, Jamaica, who served in the United States Marine Corps. Before becoming the first woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Virginia and the first Black woman elected to statewide office, she served as the vice president of the Virginia State Board of Education and a presidential appointee to the U.S. Census Bureau, co-chair of the African American Committee and the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Old Dominion University and a master’s degree in organizational leadership with a concentration in government from Regent University.
She has filed to run for governor of the state in 2025 and, if successful, would become the first and only woman (as well as Black woman) in the U.S. and its territories.
Lisa Blunt Rochester
Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives and serves as an Assistant Whip for House Leadership. She also serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Raised in Wilmington, Delaware, she graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a degree in international relations and later earned a master’s degree in urban affairs and public policy from the University of Delaware.
She’s also running for the state senate seat in Delaware and would make history if elected. If she and Albrook are both successful, that will be a first as well, as it would be the first time two Black women are serving in the U.S. Senate at the same time.
Carol Moseley Braun
A native of Chicago (who now lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood the Obamas also call home), Carol Moseley Braun became the first woman senator from Illinois and the first Black woman to serve in the Senate when she won in 1992 (and was the only Black woman to serve in the six years she held her seat.) She later served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, a visiting professor at Northwestern University, launched a food company, and now serves as chairman of the United States African Development Foundation. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago Law School.
Lauren Underwood
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Born in Ohio but raised in Illinois, Lauren Underwood was sworn into Congress in 2019, becoming the first woman, the first person of color, and the youngest (as a millennial!) elected to represent the state. A registered nurse by trade, she’s the co-founder and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus and the co-chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. She also serves on the House Committee on Appropriations. Before that, she served as a senior adviser at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University.
Ayanna Pressley
Representing Massachusetts, Ayanna Pressley was the first Black woman to be elected to Congress from the state. Before that, she served as a member of the Boston City Council, becoming the first woman of color to serve in that capacity. In that role, she formed the Committee on Healthy Women, Families, and Communities, addressing issues including domestic violence and human trafficking. She empowered many, going viral and making headlines in 2020 when she revealed she has alopecia and unapologetically took off her wig to rock a bald head, shifting the narrative on Black women, code-switching, and appearance in political arenas and beyond.
Jennifer McClellan
Jennifer McClellan was sworn into the U.S. House last year, becoming the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress. A Virginia native, she earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law. She was previously elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2005 and served in that post until she was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 2017.
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