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Reviewed by:
  • African Americans and the Oscars: Decades of Struggle and Achievement
  • Allana Radecki
Edward Mapp. African Americans and the Oscars: Decades of Struggle and Achievement, 2nd ed. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2008.

Edward Mapp’s African Americans and the Oscars illuminates the history of African American presence in Hollywood. The book chronicles the achievements of black actors, screenplay writers and directors who have been nominated for Academy Awards. Offering both plot synopses and biographical sketches, readers have at hand a useful reference book revealing the who, what, when, where, and why of each nomination. The table of contents, filmography, appendices, and index themselves are of interest (for example, actress Hattie McDaniel, the first African American Oscar winner, rivals Samuel L. Jackson for most screen appearances, seventy-one to sixty-eight respectively). Mapp’s clever, concise chapters are rich in material to expand the curious reader’s field of inquiry. The book is a valuable addition to any film library. It informs, entertains, and will satisfy any film buff’s love of trivia. Being able to smoothly assemble this much information is evidence of the breadth of Mapp’s research and the longevity of his work in film history as an educator, archivist, and major collector of African American film posters. This is the second edition, and the reviewer hopes Mapp will continue to update the text.

Entertainment culture is a microcosm of American society, important as indicator and motivator of social change. In following the development of African American representation in film, Mapp states, “The history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as it relates to African Americans has been occasionally contentious, sometimes conciliatory and always controversial.”1 By simply telling the story clearly, he addresses issues of racial prejudice, sexism, and stereotyping both on and off screen. He places films within the social context of their historic time and reveals how the influence of advertising money, studio politics, and Oscar sentimentalities also affect the outcome of the voting.

Mapp’s well-chosen anecdotes reveal the motivations of the talents that have challenged and changed our cultural identity. His portraits align many [End Page 191] artists with cornerstones of African American values: family, church, education, social uplift, and the continuing struggle for equal rights. For those who have received multiple nominations, Mapp is able to draw a fuller picture of the many forces that shape an actor’s character and career.

Mapp’s reporting makes it clear that the honor itself does not guarantee continued success in landing roles or, in the case of African American performers, evading double consciousness and racial stereotyping. In a profession where unemployment is the norm, African Americans suffer a “plethora of talent and dearth of opportunity,”2 according to Mapp. For African American filmmakers, the challenge to work is charged with social responsibility by simple presence both on the screen, and behind the scenes. The struggle to gain parity becomes the artistic grist through which much good work is produced and much character developed. In a recent interview, the iconic actor Sidney Poitier, the first African American to win an Oscar for Best Actor, recalled:

“I knew what the lay of the land was. American democracy had not embraced me or us. And because it had not, it placed upon me certain responsibilities. And my responsibilities were exercised every time I went to work. I made 56 movies, and they were carefully chosen by me, not the industry. I had only one power, and that power was that I could say, ‘No, I cannot play that.’ I said that time and time again and those films never appeared because I never made them …. I vowed I would never make a film that would not reflect properly on my father’s name.”3

As roles have become more numerous, so has recognition and the influence of African American celebrities and filmmakers is shifting the balance of power in Hollywood. The challenge continues for ambitious African American filmmakers in the movie industry: a place where money is power. Denzel Washington has invested considerable time, energy, and money toward projects that support his very personal intention to create social and spiritual uplift...

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