20 years before 'Oscars So White,’ Rev. Jesse Jackson took on the Academy Awards

Source WBEZ
Original Load Date Feb. 19, 2026, 12:01 p.m.
Last Updated Feb. 19, 2026, 12:01 p.m.
Original URL https://www.wbez.org/movies-tv/2026/02/19/oscars-so-white-diversity-rev-jesse-jackson-academy-awards-race-film-sinners

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Nearly 20 years before Black Twitter’s #OscarsSoWhite campaign generated a firestorm over the lack of Black nominees at the Academy Awards, Rev. Jesse Jackson lit a spark with a call to protest the 1996 ceremony. That year, just one Black person, short film director Dianne Houston, was included amo...