title:  Spike Lee Celebrates MLK Day By Announcing Boycott Of ‘Lily White’ Oscars (IMAGE/VIDEO)
text: The film industry wants us to believe that it is liberal, that there is no racism. However, nothing could be further from the truth, and the fact that for the second year in a row all of the Oscar-nominated actors are white. Yes, you read that right. Even with iconic films such as Selma out there, the Academy didn t see fit to nominate any actors of color.Well, this obvious bias didn t go unnoticed by powerful and successful actors of color, most notably Spike Lee. To that end, on the annual celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday, the celebrated actor took to Instagram to tell the world that he would not be attending this year s Oscars, and why. Using the hashtag #OscarssoWhite, Lee said, in part, after acknowledging and thanking Cheryl Boone Issacs, President of the Academy, for giving him an honorary Oscar this past November:But, How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White? And Let s Not Even Get Into The Other Branches. 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can t Act?! WTF!! It s No Coincidence I m Writing This As We Celebrate The 30th Anniversary Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr s Birthday. Dr. King Said  There Comes A Time When One Must Take A Position That Is Neither Safe, Nor Politic, Nor Popular But He Must Take It Because Conscience Tells Him It s Right .Here is the post, in full:#OscarsSoWhite  Again. I Would Like To Thank President Cheryl Boone Isaacs And The Board Of Governors Of The Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences For Awarding Me an Honorary Oscar This Past November. I Am Most Appreciative. However My Wife, Mrs. Tonya Lewis Lee And I Will Not Be Attending The Oscar Ceremony This Coming February. We Cannot Support It And Mean No Disrespect To My Friends, Host Chris Rock and Producer Reggie Hudlin, President Isaacs And The Academy. But, How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White? And Let s Not Even Get Into The Other Branches. 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can t Act?! WTF!! It s No Coincidence I m Writing This As We Celebrate The 30th Anniversary Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr s Birthday. Dr. King Said  There Comes A Time When One Must Take A Position That Is Neither Safe, Nor Politic, Nor Popular But He Must Take It Because Conscience Tells Him It s Right . For Too Many Years When The Oscars Nominations Are Revealed, My Office Phone Rings Off The Hook With The Media Asking Me My Opinion About The Lack Of African-Americans And This Year Was No Different. For Once, (Maybe) I Would Like The Media To Ask All The White Nominees And Studio Heads How They Feel About Another All White Ballot. If Someone Has Addressed This And I Missed It Then I Stand Mistaken. As I See It, The Academy Awards Is Not Where The  Real  Battle Is. It s In The Executive Office Of The Hollywood Studios And TV And Cable Networks. This Is Where The Gate Keepers Decide What Gets Made And What Gets Jettisoned To  Turnaround  Or Scrap Heap. This Is What s Important. The Gate Keepers. Those With  The Green Light  Vote. As The Great Actor Leslie Odom Jr. Sings And Dances In The Game Changing Broadway Musical HAMILTON,  I WANNA BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS . People, The Truth Is We Ain t In Those Rooms And Until Minorities Are, The Oscar Nominees Will Remain Lilly White. (Cont d)A photo posted by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on Jan 18, 2016 at 5:03am PSTSpike Lee is right, and he isn t the only actor who is upset about these gross and racially motivated injustices when it comes to recognition for achievements. Lee is just the latest person of color who also happens to be a member of the Hollywood elite to criticize the all-white Oscar ballots. Jada Pinkett Smith has made similar comments. She said of the entire situation: The Academy has the right to acknowledge whomever they choose, to invite whomever they choose, and now I think that it s our responsibility to make the change. Maybe it is time that we pull back our resources and we put them back into our communities, into our programs, and we make programs for ourselves that acknowledge us in ways that we see fit, that are just as good as the so-called mainstream ones. Begging for acknowledgement or even asking for it diminishes dignity, diminishes power. And we are a dignified people and we are powerful, and let s not forget it. In addition, Pinkett Smith made her views on the matter known on Facebook via a powerful video, also uploaded just in time for MLK Day, just like Spike Lee s Instagram post:  // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) {  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;  js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&#038;version=v2.3";  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]&gt;We must stand in our power!We must stand in our power.Posted by Jada Pinkett Smith on Monday, January 18, 2016 They are both right. We have to realize that we are the ones who are going to have to create change. It won t be White America, and it sure as hell won t be Hollywood. It will be Black Americans with voices, especially those in positions of power and influence, who will stand up and say what needs to be said, and do what needs to be done. If it takes boycotting what is arguably the biggest film industry event of the year, then so be it.Thank you, Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith for telling it like it is.Featured image via screen capture from Twitter