Jada Smith is one of the most remarkable personalities of all time. Besides being an active speaker on hot topics and a co-host of the talk show Red Table Talk on Facebook, the wife of renowned actor Will Smith has also given some incredible works to worldwide audiences including her top-rated 6 seasons sitcom A Different World and her all-time best thriller/action, Collateral (2004).
Yet, while she was highly acclaimed for these, Mrs. Smith has never once been nominated for an Oscar. And maybe that’s the reason why she stated in a Facebook video that went viral that she would no longer be ‘begging for recognition’ at the Oscars, all the while demanding a boycott from her peers of the same calling herself a ‘dignified and powerful people’ little before the 2017 Academy Awards took place.
Jada Smith Raised An Unusual Request For The 2017 Oscars
Following the inability of the Academy to nominate non-white actors and actresses like herself in the four major categories of Oscars for the second time in a row back in 2017, Jada Smith raised her concerns about the same through a short video clip that she posted on Facebook. In it, she can be seen saying,
“I asked the question. Have we now arrived at a new time and place where we recognize that we can no longer beg for the love, acknowledgment, or respect of any group, that perhaps it’s time to recognize that if we love, respect, and acknowledge ourselves in the same way that we ask others to do, that is the place of true power? I’m just curious.”
She further pointed out how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had complete freedom to invite whoever it wanted irrespective of their ethnicity. Continuing, she said,
“Perhaps it is time that we pull back our resources and put them back into our communities, into our programs, and that we make programs for us that recognize us in any way we see fit, that are just as good as the so-called ‘mainstream’ ones, I’m not sure.”
With her perspective on the topic valid and worth contemplating, Jada Smith also raised the question of whether ethnic minorities like hers should take the step to boycott the Oscars ‘in the name of diversity’.
Jada Smith Voiced Her Dissatisfaction On The Racial Prejudice At The Oscars
Jada Smith’s not-so-cryptic post also hinted at how her husband Will Smith got a Golden Globe nod for his outstanding performance in Concussion (2016) for Best Actor in Motion Picture but didn’t get anything from similar category in the Oscars – ‘Racial Prejudice’, in her words.
After confronting the Academy for its prejudicial choices, she then went on to call herself, representing her entire community, a ‘dignified and powerful’ people.
“This is what I do. Begging for recognition, or simply asking, lessens dignity and power, and let us not forget that we are dignified and powerful people.”
This also had the originally developed in 2016 hashtag #OscarsSoWhite begin trending once again on Twitter. Continuing, she also hinted at how she herself would be boycotting the Academy Awards of 2017 because of the same.
“At the Oscars, people of color are always welcome to present awards and even entertain, but we are rarely recognized for our artistic achievements. Should people of color abstain from participating entirely? People can only treat us as we allow. With much respect in the midst of deep disappointment, J.”
While her post gained high commendation from her fellow stars from the industry, it also won Will Smith an Academy Award for Best Actor for King Richard in 2022. However, Jada Smith still hasn’t been nominated for a single Oscar despite her remarkable performance, which must also be the reason why both the Smiths ditched this year’s Academy Awards as well.
Source: Facebook
