#LeadershipTuesdays: Seize This Day...Akiroq Brost

"Seize this day. Make the most of it. Don't make excuses. Focus on what you can do...today and take advantage of this precious time you were given."

--Akiroq Brost

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents Leadership Tuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today, in the second part of a two part series, we talk with April Reign, the creator of the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. She is an attorney, public speaker, activist and Social Media Strategist.

Many remember the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag that started trending on Twitter and made headlines around the world after the Oscars nominations were announced in January 2015. "Oscars So White" was a reaction to the fact that no people of color were nominated in the 20 acting and directing categories of the Oscars. If you don't remember, the Martin Luther King, Jr biopic "Selma" was nominated in the Best Picture and Song categories, and did win the Oscar for Best Song; however, many fans felt the film's director Ava Duvernay and leading actor David Oyelowo were snubbed. History repeated itself in 2016 when no actors or directors of color were nominated and Reign's hashtag began trending again.

Reign's hashtag gave voice to movie fans and industry players who were frustrated with Hollywood's lack of diversity. The 2015 Oscars nominations were just the tipping point. #LeadershipTuesdays talked w/April Reign about the creation and impact of #OscarsSoWhite and the changes that have taken place in the industry in the last three years. Reigns shrewd activism has had a measurable impact on the issue of diversity in Hollywood. 


See the interview below. Visit the link for more information on LeadershipTuesdays. The 2018 Oscars nominations will be announced today, January 23rd at 8:22 am EST. To view the nominations live or a re-broadcast, go to Oscars.com.

LeadershipTuesdays

#LeadershipTuesdays Motivational Moment: My Resolve and Expectations…Ava Duvernay

In an interview with Fresh Air, Terry Gross asked Ava Duvernay, ‘Where do you go next? You’re going to have a lot more clout now as a film director.'

"I don’t know if I’m going to have more clout. There’s really no precedent for someone like me gaining clout in the space that I’m in…a black woman directing films in Hollywood. You know, no precedent for there being a black woman director who's gained any clout. Black woman directors that make amazing beautiful things? Yes. I can name 50. Black woman directors that have attained that kind of clout to be able to answer that question from a place of the privilege of having lots of options: I’m not so sure. We’ll see. It’ll be nice. But regardless, I’m going to keep on telling my stories. 

I’d be absolutely happy to go back and make a smaller picture. I never want to be….[have] my choices to be dictated by budget. That’s one of the reasons why I take so much pride in being able to make films for two dollars and a paper clip. Because I can always get my hand on two dollars and a paper clip. I never have to ask for permission for that. And so I don’t know what the next step is gonna be, but I know that I’ll be doing what I was doing for the six years before this moment: constantly making something. You can call me at any time and ask me what I’m doing? I’ll tell you I’m making this right now. It’s about momentum for me. It’s about that artistic energy and constantly having my hands on a project. So, I don’t know what it’ll be but it’ll be something."* 

--Ava Duvernay, Award-winning director of the movie, Selma.

http://www.avaduvernay.com

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here. 

*The Sounds, Space and Spirit of Selma: A Director’s Take, AnInterview with Ava Duvernay by Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR, 1/08/2015