2014

The police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, triggered weeks of sustained protest and a militarized police response broadcast globally. The uprising catalyzed Black Lives Matter from a hashtag into a national decentralized movement, forced public discourse on police violence against Black Americans to an unprecedented level, and spurred the Obama administration to convene a task force on 21st-century policing.

Steve McQueen's adaptation of Solomon Northup's memoir became the first film directed by a Black filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Lupita Nyong'o also won Best Supporting Actress, making her the first Kenyan-born actor to win an Oscar.

Lupita Nyong'o won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her debut feature film performance in 12 Years a Slave, becoming the first Kenyan-born actor and only the second African-born actor to win an acting Oscar. She subsequently became a major Hollywood star and a fashion icon whose open embrace of African beauty standards influenced beauty culture broadly.

Lupita Nyong'o won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her debut feature film performance in 12 Years a Slave, becoming the first Kenyan-born actor and only the second African-born actor to win an acting Oscar. She subsequently became a major Hollywood star and a fashion icon whose open embrace of African beauty standards influenced beauty culture broadly.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson hosted the reboot of Carl Sagan's landmark 'Cosmos' series, broadcast to over 180 countries and watched by hundreds of millions. As director of the Hayden Planetarium and the most prominent science communicator of his generation, Tyson transformed public engagement with science and became one of the most recognizable scientists in the world.

Neil deGrasse Tyson hosted the reboot of Carl Sagan's landmark television series Cosmos, broadcast across National Geographic and Fox to an audience of over 135 million in 180 countries. As the most prominent Black scientist in American public life, Tyson's hosting role marked a historic moment for the representation of Black scientists in mass media.

Following the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014, DeRay Mckesson and other activists used social media to document and organize 400+ consecutive days of protest, transforming a local uprising into a national movement. Ferguson launched the second wave of Black Lives Matter organizing and forced a national conversation about police violence and systemic racism.

Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson's memoir about representing death-row prisoners in the Deep South became a bestseller and won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. The book catalyzed public awareness of racial injustice in capital punishment and was later adapted into a major film.

Stevenson's memoir about his work defending death row inmates through the Equal Justice Initiative became a bestseller and is now one of the most widely assigned books in American law schools and high schools. Adapted into a major film in 2019, it drove public understanding of racial bias in the criminal justice system.

Ava DuVernay's dramatic account of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, making DuVernay the first Black woman ever to direct a Best Picture nominee. The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Ava DuVernay's Selma, depicting Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1965 voting rights marches, was released on Christmas Day 2014. DuVernay became the first Black woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director and the first to direct a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film was a critical and commercial success that helped inspire renewed activism around voting rights and police violence during the rise of Black Lives Matter.

Viola Davis starred in the Shonda Rhimes-produced legal thriller How to Get Away with Murder on ABC, playing defense attorney Annalise Keating. The show was a ratings hit and Davis's performance was hailed as one of the finest on American television, leading to her historic Emmy win.

J. Cole's fourth studio album, named after his childhood home's address in Fayetteville, North Carolina, debuted at number one and went platinum with no guest features—an extremely rare commercial achievement. The album's introspective themes of Black middle-class life and hometown identity became an unlikely cultural touchstone.

Marshawn Lynch scored a rushing touchdown during Super Bowl XLVIII as the Seattle Seahawks won their first championship 43-8 over the Denver Broncos. Lynch's Beast Mode running style and his refusal to speak substantively with media became defining cultural moments of the decade.

Marshawn Lynch scored a rushing touchdown during Super Bowl XLVIII as the Seattle Seahawks won their first championship 43-8 over the Denver Broncos. Lynch's Beast Mode running style and his refusal to speak substantively with media became defining cultural moments of the decade.

Misty Copeland's memoir Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina became a New York Times bestseller, bringing her story of becoming a professional ballet dancer despite a late start, financial hardship, and racial barriers to a mainstream audience. The book increased public pressure on arts institutions to diversify.