Watch: A Video Essay on the 20 Black Best Actor Nominees Since the Beginning of the Academy Awards

There have been 87 Academy Awards ceremonies thus far. As Nelson Carvajal’s latest video essay points out, only 20 black actors have been nominated in the Best Actor category. Carvajal takes us through these performances, one by one: Sidney Poitier, in The Defiant Ones; Will Smith, in Ali: Morgan Freeman, in The Shawshank Redemption; Denzel Washington, in X; Jamie Foxx, in Ray; Chiwetel Ejiofor, in 12 Years A Slave; and many more. The truth this record reveals is startling–as startling in its injustice as the thrill of the performances thus honored. This piece offers valuable food for thought, at a time when such thought is rightfully pounding its fists on the table, saying it’s time for dinner…