Listen Live
St. Jude Radiothon 2024
CLOSE
1st Annual ABFF 'Strikes For Education' Celebrity Bowling Gala

Source: Earl Gibson III / Getty

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences took a big step this week to including more women and people of color in its organization by sending out a record 683 invitations, which included Nia Long.

On Thursday, Long shared her excitement over the Academy’s attempt to increase diversity in its ranks during an appearance on daytime talk show, “The Talk.”

“I’m very excited that the Academy is diversifying the group so that we [African Americans] can have a voice,” she said. “[So] that we can talk about our projects, [so] that we can vote. Film and television should look like the world that we live in.

In addition to Long, actors Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, Gabrielle Union, and Vivica A. Fox were among the new crop of invitees selected.

Long’s prestigious invite into the Academy also comes on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the actresses’ 1991 breakout film,“Boyz n the Hood.” She went on to tell “The Talk” co-hosts that, although she and the film’s cast had no idea how much of a cultural impact it would make years later, she applauds director John Singleton —who became the youngest person, and the first African American, to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director — for “being brave enough” to make the film.

 

Source: Huffington Post

 

Leave a Reply