Why Angela Bassett’s Reaction At The Oscars Was A Giant Step Forward For Black Women

Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel urged audiences during last night’s awards show to see “Till” and “The Woman King” – two movies many Black Americans thought deserved award nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but the highly anticipated ceremony delivered another snub when beloved actress Angela Bassett did not receive the Best Supporting Actress nod for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

A crestfallen Bassett sat in the audience as Jamie Lee Curtis received the statuette for her role in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” which swept the awards.

Twitter responded with empathy, but there was also criticism of the veteran actress.

Pushback came swiftly with some men and women citing perspectives that challenged the ‘Strong Black Woman’ trope.

Psychiatrist Dr. Rhonda Mattox points to the expectation that Black women bear disappointments without registering emotion as a “mandate” society has historically assigned.

“We never laid that burden down,” Mattox explained. “We have continued it. And in fact, we owned it as the ‘Strong Black Woman’. But in part, it was because we didn’t have the luxury to lay it down for so long. And then when we had more freedom, we had owned it … it was something that, at times, made us feel like we were strong and that it was our superpower. And so even though we may not have felt like that all the time, it was a source of pride for us.”

Amid the longstanding imperative requiring Black women to forge ahead despite often unfair and overwhelming odds, a new movement has gathered followers. ‘Soft Black Girl’ has emerged as a new hashtag and an on-ramp for establishing a new narrative for Black women and make room for a more nuanced portrait.

Mattox added, “In the recent past, we have given ourselves permission to be more vulnerable, to be a little bit more transparent.” Last night at the Oscars the reigning Queen of Wakanda advanced the effort with an authentic response to a very public professional letdown.