Happy second day of Black History Month!

The second post of our Black HerStory series will focus on Joi McMillon.

– photo via Huffington Post

Nationality: American

Occupation: Film Editor

Known For: The first black female nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing

Years Active: 2003 – Present

Notable Credits: Moonlight (2016), Lemon (2017)

We at Black Chick Media first took notice of Joi McMillon when we announced the 89th Oscar nominations last week. We felt that she deserved her own post in our HerStory series.

McMillon is an American filmmaker whose editing work in the critically acclaimed Moonlight landed her an Oscar nomination for Best Film Editing with her co-editor Nat Sanders.  This nomination makes her the first black woman to be nominated in the editing category.

McMillon met Barry Jenkins, the writer-director of Moonlight, while they were both film students at Florida State University. The two artists collaborated back in 2011 on Jenkin’s short film Chlorophyl.

McMillon’s nomination is a step forward for people of color gaining representation behind the camera. While representation in front of the camera is important, we shouldn’t forget that those who are behind the scenes have power over how those in front of the camera are represented.

This is Joi McMillon’s story and we wish her the best of luck on Oscar night later this month!

Hey, everyone!

Today is February 1st meaning that it’s the first day of Black History Month. We at Black Chick Media are excited to announce that we’re starting a new daily series called “Black HerStory Month” during the month of February. This series will feature black women, both famous and lesser known, who have had a significant impact on history.

The first woman who gets the honor of having her story told is none other than Mary Seacole.

Born: 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica

Died: May 14, 1881, in Paddington, London, England

Citizenship: British

Occupation(s): Nurse, Hotelier, Boarding House Keeper, Author, World Traveler

Known For: Assistance to sick and wounded military personnel during the Crimean War

While Mary Seacole isn’t an artist, she’s the inspiration for one of our favorite plays recently, called The Marvelous Adventures of Mary Seacole. The play details her unique life: born to a free Jamaican woman and James Grant, a Scottish Lieutenant in the British Army. Her Jamaican mother was a “doctress” and ran Blundell Hall, considered one of the best hotels in Kingston at the time.

It was during this time that Seacole gained her skills as a nurse that would allow her to aid the wounded soldiers during the Crimean War (1853 – 1856).

She initially applied to the War Office (then the administrative headquarters of the British Army) to aid in the War as a nurse, but due to racial discrimination, she was refused. She ended up traveling independently to the site of the war and set up her hotel and assisted the wounded on the battlefield.

Though she was popular with the military personnel, after her outstanding service, she was forgotten for almost a century. However, today she’s lauded as a woman who defied racial prejudice. She even wrote an autobiography (called Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands) which is one of the earliest autobiographies of a mixed race woman.

This is Mary Seacole’s story.

We hope you enjoyed!

World stop.

Beyoncé just announced she’s pregnant.

But she’s not just having one baby, she’s having two.

Here are the receipts:

That’s right. We get two more Beyoncé offspring that will bless the world with their presence. We honestly aren’t worthy.

The fact that she dropped this news on the first day of black history month already has the internet (myself included) melting down.

Blue Ivy is already the cutest five-year-old to walk this earth but now she’s going to be a big sister to the cutest twins.

The only way this would get better is if she named the twins Kelly and Michelle.

Anyways…

Carry on.

The SAG Awards have a special place in my heart because they are a celebration of actors celebrating other actors. While they don’t have the same party atmosphere of the Golden Globes or the glamorous atmosphere of the Academy Awards, the SAG Awards are an important part of awards season.

The low-key ceremony was highlighted by eloquent acceptance speeches and a down to earth atmosphere that brought out a unique brand of humbleness that other awards ceremonies don’t bring out of the night’s winners.

While we congratulate all of the winners of the night, there are always a few that we would like to mention.

One of my favorite things about the SAG awards is that they highlight not only individual actors, but also acting ensembles. The all-female cast of Orange is the New Black won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for the third year in a row.

All 37 winners stepped on stage to accept the award in celebration of people – and women in particular – from every corner of the world. In addition, the cast of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Last but not least, the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture went to the Cast of Hidden Figures.

Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monaé, the film’s three leading ladies, all took the stage with the rest of the Hidden Figures cast and reminded us all that whether it’s acting in a Hollywood film or in getting the first men on the moon, the best work is done when people work together.

In the individual acting categories, our two favorite stars of Fences, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, both won in their categories. Denzel won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, while Viola won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.

In addition, Mahershala Ali, who has been cleaning up this awards season due to his brilliant performance in Moonlight, won yet another award, this time in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

We can’t write about the SAG awards without mentioning the the most entertaining segment of the night. This honor goes to country star and actress Dolly Parton presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to the always hilarious Lily Tomlin.

Parton’s introductory speech and Tomlin’s acceptance speech were each complemented by their own unique sense of humor and both ladies had the audience erupting with laughter on multiple occasions. Furthermore, Tomlin’s reflection of her long and accomplished career makes it all the more clear that she is, in fact, a living legend.

With the SAG Awards behind us, we only have only a few awards ceremonies left. Next up, the Grammy Awards. Stay tuned.