Black History

Director Spike Lee Wins First Oscar at 91st Annual Academy Awards

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Wearing a purple suit and hat and seated in the front row at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, Lee was nominated for two Oscars: Best Adaptive Screenplay for “Blackkklansman,” and for Best Director of the same film.

Published

6 years ago

February 25, 2019

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Director Spike Lee, who was famously passed over for Best Film and Best Director for his 1992 film “Malcolm X,” won his first Oscar at the 91st Annual Academy Awards.

Wearing a purple suit and hat and seated in the front row at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, Lee was nominated for two Oscars: Best Adaptive Screenplay for “Blackkklansman,” and for Best Director of the same film.

Though Lee did not win for Best Director for “Blackkklansman,” the evening featured a great deal of diversity as the Director of the film “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón, was awarded for Best Director.

Lee’s production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983. Lee, 61, has created several memorable films including, “She’s Gotta Have It” (1986), “School Daze” (1988), “Do the Right Thing” (1989), “Mo’ Better Blues” (1990), “Jungle Fever” (1991) and “Malcolm X” (1992).

When Best Actor nominee Denzel Washington, who starred in “Malcolm X,” lost to Al Pacino for his performance in “Scent of A Woman” it was considered one the biggest snubs in Oscars history. Overall, “Malcolm X” won no major awards.

“It was so funny and so horrifying because it was based on the truth and truth is so precious these days,” said legendary singer and film director, Barbra Streisand, as she introduced Lee’s film “Blackkklansman,” at the Academy Awards.

Though Lee was born in Atlanta, he was raised on New York and has made Brooklyn, NY his hometown.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and writer for NNPA as well as a political analyst and strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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4 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.