Despite the recent controversy over the fact that the Golden Globes’ voting body has no Black members, African American actors nevertheless won big when the awards ceremony were given out Sunday night, Feb. 28, 2021.
The Los Angeles Times published a damning report stating that no Black person is among the Golden Globe’s 87-member Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Even Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, the beloved four-time hosts of the Globes, felt compelled to broach the embarrassing #TimesUpGlobes controversy at the top of Sunday night’s awards show.
Despite the slight, Black thespians prevailed during the ceremony. Chadwick Boseman took home the Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for his riveting performance Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. His widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, delivered a poignant speech after Boseman became only the second person to win the Best Actor award posthumously.
Bona fide star Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as the venerated Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton Sr. in Judas and the Black Messiah. The charismatic Hampton was assassinated in his bed with the help of a Black FBI informant on Dec. 4, 1969.
Andra Day was also a big winner, claiming the Best Actress in a Motion Picture award for her incredible turn as Billie Holiday in Lee Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Like Hampton, Holiday was also the victim of the Justice Department’s clandestine operation to destroy her.
John Boyega of Star Wars fame won Best Supporting Actor in a Series for his role in Steve McQueen’s anthology, “Small Axe.”
