March 2014

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.

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.