Academy Awards

Oscars Not So White: Ali, Davis Win Academy Awards After Racism Controversy

What a difference a year makes.

Two years after #OscarSoWhite immersed the Academy Awards in controversy, Viola Davis took home her first Oscar for her role in "Fences" while Mahershala Ali was also a first time winner for his role in "Moonlight."

Ali was showered with nominations and trophies for his portrayal of a drug dealer who mentors a troubled youngster in "Moonlight," which is also in the running for best picture.

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Ali thanked his "many wonderful teachers" for a valuable lesson. "It's not about you," he recalled being told, but about serving the stories and the characters he's playing.

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Davis won for her portrayal of a mother determined to hold her family together despite the rages of her husband, who is played by best actor nominee Denzel Washington.

The Oscar win comes in a role that Davis previously won a Tony Award for when she starred opposite Washington in a Broadway revival of "Fences." The film is the first big-screen adaptation of an August Wilson play.

Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight" — not, as it turned out, "La La Land" — won best picture at the Academy Awards in a historic Oscar upset and an unprecedented fiasco that saw one winner swapped for another while the "La La Land" producers were in mid-speech.

Davis said in her acceptance speech, "Here's to August Wilson who exhumed and exalted the ordinary people." She also praised Washington and her parents, breaking down in tears.

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