Boycott The All-White Academy Awards

Considering recent events in Ferguson, Staten Island, Cleveland—and, no doubt, coming to a town near you—one would hope that we, as a nation, are coming closer to achieving true racial harmony and equality.

Apparently the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences didn’t get the memo.

This year’s Oscars nominations are predictably, disgustingly white. All of the acting nominees are white. The beloved David Oyelowo, who turned in a stunning, tear-jerking portrayal of MLK in Selma, was left out in the cold.

David Oyelowo is a black man.

What sort of message does this send to our children?

It sends the message that white supremacy and institutional racism are still a thing.

“The lack of diversity in today’s Oscar nominations is appalling,” the Reverend Al Sharpton commented. “The movie industry is like the Rocky Mountains—the higher you get, the whiter it gets.”

Remind me not to visit the Rocky Mountains, nor to purchase anything made in the Rocky Mountains, until justice is achieved.

Friends, allies, and comrades, I think we’re going to climb that mountain one day. And believe you me, we’re going to melt that snow. We’re going to have an entertainment industry that reflects the horrors and degradation suffered by nonwhites and non-males throughout history, because that’s the whole point of entertainment in the first place—it must teach, scold, inform, and uplift.

I have a blowtorch in one hand and a backpack full of bottled water and trail mix. Who’s willing to climb that mountain with me?