#hattiemcdaniel

[cartermagazine]

Today In History

Hattie McDaniel, actress who starred in an Oscar winning role as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind, was born in Wichita, KS, on this date June 10, 1898.

By the mid-1920s, Hattie McDaniel became one of the first African American women to perform on radio. In 1934, she landed her on-screen break in the film Judge Priest. She then became the first African American to win an Oscar in 1940, for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.

She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 2006 she became the first Black Oscar winner honored with a U.S. postage stamp.

In 2010, she was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

CARTER™️ Magazine 

[the-fact-site]

In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first black woman to receive an Oscar, but she had to accept it in the hotel backroom because of her race. #FACT

[ghost-37]

🖤

[adamwatchesmovies]

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Some people will hate Gone with the Wind for its dated, even problematic viewpoint. Its nostalgic glance at the pre-Civil War era has drawn particular ire recently. It should. The film barely glosses over slavery and due to its protagonist's worldview is mostly spent lamenting a bygone, carefree era forged at the expense of others. Gone with the Wind does not meet the sensibilities of the 21st century. It would be a relief if this meant it was bad... but it isn't. It's a historically important picture and - assuming you can set aside how you feel about the ideologies it perpetuated - a great film.

On the eve of the American Civil War, Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) pines after her cousin’s fiancé, Ashley (Leslie Howard). As the men leave for battle we witness Scarlett's ruin, recovery, pursuit of Ashley, complex relationship with her cousin Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), and even more complicated romance with Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).

This film deals solely with people who profited from slavery and none of the atrocities blacks suffered at the time or afterward are shown. It's insensitive. No one would tell this story as-is today. Gone With the Wind has a different objective. It shows the war from the perspective of someone who never understood what was happening or what the conflict was about. The young men's biggest concerns are pretty girls. The women, the latest fashion. It's about the hubris of the South and the rich. No one who spends their time indulging as much as they do has any idea what kind of storm is headed their way. The film comments on the south by zooming in so close that all it sees are the lives of Ashley, Rhett Butler, Scarlett, and Melanie. Their suffering is ultimately trivial but it doesn't feel trivial. You get to know them so intimately you're simultaneously aware of what it's omitting and oblivious to it.

At 238 minutes including the entr'acte, intermission, and end credits, you spend so much time with Scarlett O'Hara you come to know her inside and out. She’s not a meek southern flower. She's a person capable of loving, of being afraid, of changing and of making mistakes. She's conniving, manipulative and petty but also sharp and clever. She’s a survivor. The rich material gives the actors every opportunity to show off and the performances are exceptionally strong. You connect with everyone. Even side characters, like Mammy (Hattie McDaniel, who earned an Academy Award for her performance - the first by a black woman) stick with you. It certainly helps that there are many memorable lines, including the all-time best parting words ever exchanged by a couple.

Now we come to the visuals and lavish production. Through the wide shots of a world which no longer exists but has been recreated expertly you feel the devastation of war, the determination needed to rebuild, the desperation of trying to scrape together means of living, the will to do more than just survive. It’s not just one story, just one thing. It’s a criticism of the South’s arrogance and belief that what it was doing was justified. It’s also a romantic drama and the story of a strong woman who refuses to let others step over her.

Many aspects of Gone with the Wind make it a daunting enterprise. Even if you like the film you can't exactly pop it into your machine on a whim - it's too long an investment for that. The subject matter and viewpoint from which it's told make it an uncomfortable watch but it would also be wrong to pre-emptively judge it. Like many older films, you can't just watch it passively. You need to think about what you're seeing and ask questions. You need to consider what it meant then, what it means now, and what impact it will have in the future. No work good or bad is immune to the ravages of time and society's changing views. Despite everything, there's a reason why people are reluctant to let go of Gone with the Wind 75 years later. On top of being historically relevant as a landmark in filmmaking, it's important to show how times have changed and how you don't have to approve of a story's message to enjoy it or recognize it as great. (On DVD, April 9, 2016)

[blackpinups]

The first black Oscar winner went to Hattie McDaniel for her role in Gone With Wind. Here she is holding her award in 1940. She is also the reason the Fair Housing Act started. McDaniel played a pivotal role in desegregating housing in Los Angeles. "The house on 24th street — when she bought that house, there was a real estate covenant that said, 'no blacks, no Hispanics, whatever' and she said 'bullshit,'" MaBel Collins, the partner of McDaniel’s grandnephew Edgar Goff, said. "She said, 'I want that house,' the man who was selling her the house wanted her to have it, so if you look in your history books or in legal files, you’ll see that’s what started the fair housing in California." In 1938, McDaniel and other black celebrities of the time, like blues and jazz singer Ethel Waters and actress Louise Beavers, moved into the colonial mansions in the city’s West Adams Heights neighborhood. But instead of white residents embracing their new neighbors, some created  restrictive housing covenants. These contracts barred buyers from selling property to certain types of people. McDaniel’s case set a precedent that would later help the Supreme Court rule it unconstitutional for the courts to enforce restrictive housing covenants in Shelley v. Kraemer in 1948. #oscars #oscarwinner #hattiemcdaniel #gonewiththewind #pioneer #actress #vox #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory *credit goes to @voxdotcom https://www.instagram.com/p/BuSXQ-YloDd/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ckp94sw47co9

[citizenscreen]

#OTD in 2006 the US 39-cent stamp is released featuring Hattie McDaniel in the dress she wore in 1940 when she became the first African-American actress to win an Academy Award. #HattieMcDaniel #Oscars #USPS

[cuzbruce]

View this post on Instagram

#Repost @taurastinson (@get_repost) ・・・ Sadly, nothing has changed since this was filmed. I have had a hard time with and have become overwhelmed with the state of this beautiful world. I combed over every lyric of the Star Spangled banner and for the life of me can't understand why one couldn't understand our position. There is an enlightening article on theroot.com (published 7/4/16) that addresses the hidden racist history of the National Anthem. My favorite line the article is that the "Star Spangled Banner is as much a patriotic song as it is a diss track to black people"... 😩 That's why it's important that we know who WE are and STAND and KNEEL beside one another so close and tightly that nothing or no one has a chance of laying us down. ❤️🖤💚 And don't get me started on #45...I plan to not even speak his toxic name anymore. Just sharing my thoughts on this tough week...I had to turn off the news and connect to the source. My prayers and donations are also with heart Puerto Rico, Mexico and every righteous soul in need of healing, justice and the basic necessities that some of us take for granted. Thank you, Ms. Hattie...we will continue your work. • • • #Mobilize #DoSomething #HistoryRepeating #TakeTheKnee #StandUp #HattieMcDaniel #flagisdrenchedwithourblood #HattieSpeaks #BlackLove #BrownLove #Boricua

[worldofwilbekin]

VISIBILITY AND THE OSCARS

“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  

By Emil Wilbekin

It is important to be seen. Last nights’ Academy Awards proved this to the world. The spirit and brilliance of Black culture was swirling though the Dolby Theater —and I was there to witness it first had. You could feel the energy flowing through the Dolby Theater. 

Last night, life was given and celebrated – and we were seen. It was the perfect stellar collision where passion, purpose and power came together to shift the atmosphere – and our perspectives. This year was an increase of nominees of color from around the world. It was if Hollywood finally, truly saw the world in color. From NASA Hero Katherine Johnson, who is the woman who inspired “Hidden Figures”, and Gary from Chicago, who was part of the Oscar’s Bus Tour skit, helped illuminate the show. We give you life!

Viola Davis’ win for Best Supporting Actress made her the first African American to win an Emmy, a Tony and an Oscar – she is now included in an elite group of actors to accomplish this. In her acceptance speech, she talked about the power of living: “I became an artist and thank God I did because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to give life.”

Davis also talked about the kind of stories she would like to tell – and breathe life into: “I say exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories – the stories of people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition, people who fell in love and lost.”

This year, however, we did not stop at only seeing one Black person win at the Academy Awards. That #OscarsSoWhite is dead and gone thanks to Cheryl Boone Isaacs, President of the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Ezra Edelman (alongside Caroline Waterlow) won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for “O.J.: Made In America” beating out Ava DuVernay’s “13th”, Raoul Peck’s “I Am Not Your Negro” and Roger Ross Williams’ “Life, Animated”— talk about a breadth of Black vision and perspective.

But it was “Moonlight” that truly shined a spotlight on visibility at the Oscars. This film not only ignited the Black Gay communities’ souls, it also opened us up to see the deep and often complicated intersectionalities of our world through love. Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim to receive the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in “Moonlight.” Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for “Moonlight” which is based on McCraney’s play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” 

“Moonlight” served as the lightening rod for visibility. After “La La Land” was accidentally awarded the Oscar for Best Picture and quickly course corrected by the Academy, “Moonlight” won the prize. This sort of incident is not new to the Black community and POC — remember the “Hidden Fences” Golden Globes debacle? For years, we have had to not be too good, not be too loud, and not overstep of our boundaries. In 1940, when Hattie McDaniel won her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, she did so in the segregated Cocoanut Grove nightclub in The Ambassador Hotel after being grated special access because of her Academy Award nomination. McDaniel, the daughter of two former slaves said, “I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope that I shall always be a credit to my race and the motion picture industry.”

“Moonlight” did win! And we should not let the Oscar incident kill our joy, self reflection or exuberance. This film about Black Gay Male identity and love, directed by an African American ally Barry Jenkins, shows us the power of what happens when we are visible, able to share our narrative, and allowed to seen in all of our vibrancy and light.