2020 Oscar Nominations: Cynthia EriVo, ‘Hair Love’, & The Obamas The Only Black Noms

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The 2020 Academy Award nominations are in; Cynthia Erivo, Matthew A. Cherry, and the Barack and Michelle Obama produced documentary are the only Black nominations. Cynthia Erivo starred as the legendary Harriet Tubman in ‘Harriet’, the Obamas produced the documentary American Factory on NETFLIX, and Matthew A. Cherry created/produced the animation short film ‘Hair Love’.

Fans are upset that Academy award winner Lupita Nyong’o did not receive a nomination for her amazing performance in Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’. Some even pointed out the lack of female directors nominated, and the fact that comedic actress Awkwafina, who just became the first Asian woman to win best actress at the Golden Globes, was snubbed as well.

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2019 was a great year for music and film, and even though not all people of colour can be nominated it’s nice to know organizations like BET, and the NAACP, look out for us.

Matthew A. Cherry, NFL player turned film director/writer (Executive at Jordan Peele’s MonkeyPaw Productions), created an animation film called ‘Hair Love’. ‘Hair Love’ is a story about a father having to do his Black daughter’s hair for the first time. Sony Pictures picked up the story and it was released, after major crowdfunding, in 2019, along with a book later on the same year.

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The film stars Issa Rae who also announced the nomination. Matthew took to twitter in 2012 and said he would be nominated for an Oscar one day. 7 years later it came true!

Cynthia Erivo was also nominated for best original song. Cynthia co-wrote and performed “Stand Up” for the film ‘Harriet’ for which she starred. Cynthia is only one letter away from the coveted EGOT status, and if she wins this Oscar, she’d be among the few who’ve earned an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award.