By Deron Dalton
When it comes to the Academy Awards, the Oscar statuettes may be gold, but the only color people have been talking about for months is white.
In January 2015, frustrated by a lack of representation of filmmakers and actors of color in the Academy Awards nominations, April Reign created the viral hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. The managing editor at Broadway Black, Reign is no stranger to highlighting the achievements and challenges of black actors on Broadway, so focusing on Hollywood’s struggles with racial diversity wasn’t a huge leap.
Little did she know that her hashtag campaign would take off the way it did: Nearly 14 months later, with the 88th Academy Awards set to air tonight, diversity in the top eight Oscar categories is still almost non-existent, and #OscarsSoWhite once again dominated conversations after the nominees were announced. Reign spoke with the Daily Dot about the Oscars, Hollywood’s diversity problem, and campaigning for change.
“Unfortunately we have seen that the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag is still very relevant this year in 2016 and in fact, has experienced a resurgence,” Reign told the Daily Dot.
Read more via The Daily Dot.