The 2018 Golden Globe Awards were historical for African-Americans who have had less representation in several American film and television industry honours in decades.
The 75th edition of the awards held on January 7, 2018 saw a different trend with “This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown becoming the first black actor in history to win the Best Actor in a TV Drama Award.
The 41-year-old actor said in his acceptance speech that: “Throughout the majority of my career, I’ve benefited from colorblind casting, which means, ‘Hey, let’s throw a brother in there.’ That’s always really cool. But Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a black man that can only be played by a black man.”
“So what I appreciate so much about this is that I’m being seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am, and it makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me or dismiss anybody who looks like me,” he adds.
Last year, he made another history at the Emmy’s as the first black actor in two decades to win the best actor in a drama series for the same role as Randall Pearson.
The highlight of the night was the honour made to media mogul Oprah Winfrey who was presented the Cecil B. DeMille Award. She is the first African-American woman to be honored with the award and she mesmerized everyone with her acceptance speech.
She reflected on the fact that her honour could impact the lives of black girls and acknowledged the impact made by Sidney Poitier who became the first black man to win Best Actor at the Academy Awards in 1964. She also spoke about the #MeToo movement.
“I want all the girls watching here now to know that a new day is on the horizon. And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom who are in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say #MeToo again,” she said.
.@Oprah’s full speech for her well-deserved #CecilBDeMilleAward #goldenglobes pic.twitter.com/o3C2vd1swu
— Shadow and Act (@shadowandact) January 8, 2018
The night saw most of the women wearing black to make a statement in the wake of the #MeToo movement that seeks to denounce sexual assault and harassment.
