#OscarsSoWhite: Idris Elba to Queen Latifah, diversity wins at SAG Awards 2016

On Saturday night, Hollywood’s glitterati gathered at the 22nd annual Screen Actors’ Guild Awards and what a diverse night it turned out to be.

Journalism drama “Spotlight” won the SAG ensemble cast award in a night that was dominated by a diverse roster of winners.

Just a couple of weeks ago Idris Elba was honored at the Critics’ Choice Awards for his role on Luther, winning the Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries.

During his acceptance speech, Elba said, “Welcome to diverse TV …”

Orange Is The New Black had two wins, one for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and another for Uzo Aduba for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.

Queen Latifah won best actress in a TV miniseries for playing blues singer Bessie Smith in HBO’s Bessie, and Viola Davis won best drama actress for ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder.

“We’ve become a society of trending topics”, she lamented when asked about the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. “And by that, she meant that audiences -Academy voters, everyone – should be more open-minded to African-American stories because they’re everyone’s stories”.

Given that the SAG Award nominations are decided upon by the SAG-AFTRA (essentially, a pool of working actors-about 2,200 people selected at random who are only allowed to serve every eight years), chances are a little higher that the voting group is going to be a much better representation of those people now working in Hollywood.

Uzo Abuda picked up her second award for Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren.

British actor Idris Elba gave the Oscars bosses something to ponder over, when he scooped two awards at the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG).

Even if this year’s winners represent only two races, the SAG award ceremony certainly constitutes a victory for affirmative action and the triumph of politics over art, if not for diversity.

Best actor in a TV drama went to Jeffery Tambor for the acclaimed Amazon series “Transparent“.

Kevin Spacey, who plays the role of Frank Underwood in House of Cards, brought Netflix its other award.

“I think it’s important to understand that these things are systemic – when we talk about racism, institutional racism – that these things are systemic and the systems must change if we want to really effect cultural change”.

There were no surprises in the Best Actor category as Leonardo DiCaprio got his hands on the first Screen Actors Guild Award of his career for his performance in The Revenant.