OPINION: A divine night, sorta, for Black actors at the Oscars

Of the 20 performers nominated for the four major acting awards, a quarter of them — Randolph, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown — were Black. The five nominations, along with a Best Picture nomination for “American Fiction,” were proof that 2023 was loaded with amazing Black performances.

But as inevitable as Randolph’s win was, and as great as each of their performances was, their lanes for getting the coveted statues were narrow.

This was one of those years when Hollywood returned with grand movies like “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Maestro,” starring actors like Bradley Cooper, Paul Giamatti, Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr., and Lily Gladstone.

Each of them came into Sunday night with the same momentum as Randolph. “Oppenheimer” went home with seven awards, including best picture, best director, best actor and best supporting actor. “Poor Things” won four awards.

And that’s okay.

Personally, “American Fiction,” with Jeffrey Wright’s brilliant, best-actor-nominated performance, was the best movie I saw last year.

“American Fiction,” the sort of movie Black folks claim they want Hollywood to make more often when period or slavery-themed movies hit the silver screen, was smart, hysterically funny and timely. And it won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

Too bad more people didn’t see the movie, which included Sterling K. Brown’s best supporting actor performance, a transformative and sharp turn away from his loving, responsible Randall character from the television series “This is Us.”

Georgia-born Danielle Brooks, who lost the best actress in a supporting role award to Randolph, brought a new dimension to the role of Sofia in “The Color Purple.”

And then there was best actor nominee Colman Domingo, who I first saw on Broadway in 2006, in “Passing Strange.”

I was just as captivated watching him star in “Rustin” as the organizer of “The March on Washington” as I was 18 years ago, watching him on stage playing the closeted gay character Mr. Franklin Jones.

I remember the losses more than the wins, like in 1993, when Denzel Washington and his magnificent tour de force in “Malcolm X” lost the Academy Awards’ best actor statue to Al Pacino.

I remember in 2006 when Eddie Murphy lost the best supporting actor category for his role in “Dreamgirls” to Alan Arkin.

And I remember in 2017, when Denzel lost again — this time for his portrayal of Troy in “Fences” — to Casey “The Other” Affleck, and his performance in the dreary and forgettable “Manchester by the Sea.”

And I didn’t forget when Queen Angela Bassett lost best supporting actress last year for her role in “Wakanda Forever.”

Those are the ones that sting because those were once-in-a-lifetime (or in Denzel’s case, twice) performances.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

So, while I loved “American Fiction,” I can’t be mad at the sprawling and historical “Oppenheimer,” which reminded moviegoers of a different era of moviemaking.

I can’t be mad at Cillian Murphy for winning best actor for his portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer over Wright and Domingo. And I can’t be mad at Robert Downey Jr. for beating Sterling K. Brown for best supporting actor.

But there was something divine about the evening.

The inevitability of Randolph’s win meant a quarter of the main acting awards went to Black performers. And in the 96-year history of the Academy Awards, whose first Black winner, Hattie McDaniel, had to face the indignity of sitting in the back of the room at a segregated table in 1939, that is progress.

BLACK OSCAR WINNERS

In the history of the Academy Awards, only 23 performances by Black actors or actresses have won Oscars.

Here is the complete list of past winners:

Best Actor

Credit: Archive Photos

Credit: Archive Photos

· Sidney Poitier – “Lilies of the Field,” 1963

· Denzel Washington - “Training Day,” 2001

· Jamie Foxx - “Ray,” 2004

· Forest Whitaker - “The Last King of Scotland,” 2006

· Will Smith - “King Richard,” 2021

Best Actress

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

· Halle Berry - “Monster’s Ball,” 2001

Best Supporting Actor

· Louis Gossett Jr. - “An Officer and a Gentleman,” 1982

· Denzel Washington - “Glory,” 1989

· Cuba Gooding Jr. - “Jerry Maguire,” 1996

· Morgan Freeman - “Million Dollar Baby,” 2004

· Mahershala Ali - “Moonlight,” 2016

· Mahershala Ali - “Green Book,” 2018

· Daniel Kaluuya - “Judas and the Black Messiah,” 2020

Best Supporting Actress

Credit: (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

Credit: (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

· Hattie McDaniel - “Gone With the Wind,” 1939

· Whoopi Goldberg - “Ghost,” 1990

· Jennifer Hudson - “Dreamgirls,” 2006

· Mo’Nique - “Precious,” 2009

· Octavia Spencer - “The Help,” 2011

· Lupita Nyong’o - “12 Years a Slave,” 2013

· Viola Davis - “Fences,” 2016

· Regina King - “If Beale Street Could Talk,” 2018

· Ariana DeBose - “West Side Story,” 2021

· Da’Vine Joy Randolph - “The Holdovers,” 2024