In 2019 when Ruth E. Carter won the Academy Award for her work on Disney/Marvel’s 2018 global box-office smash Black Panther, she made history as the first Black woman to receive the Oscar for costume design.
Carter made history again today as she became the first Black and only the second costume designer ever (Edith Head was the first) to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Carter started her costume design career on films with Spike Lee including School Daze, Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X. Carter also worked on Amistad, The Five Heartbeats, What’s Love Got to Do With It, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Selma and most recently, Coming 2 America, which debuts March 5 on Prime Video.
Carter currently sits on the Academy of Arts and Sciences Board of Governors and recently started the Mildred Blount Scholarship Fund in honor of “the Black woman who did the millinery work in Gone With the Wind” who was the first African American member of the Motion Pictures Costumers Union.
You can watch a recap of Carter’s career, tributes from Oprah Winfrey, Eddie Murphy and the virtual Walk of Fame ceremony below:
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I so appreciate the news that comes to me consistently and without interruption of the excellence that Black people achieve and are engaged in. Just a thought, that we re-think the “Black firsts” concept. In so many instances, these “firsts” are the first “allowed” to enter professions or achieve acknowledgement when others should have been recognized before. There is sometimes the hidden suggestion that this particular person finally had what it takes to reach the pinnacle when the truth is that many have had what it takes but are not allowed to receive their accolades. Again, this news site is one of my favorites and a constant source of joy and celebration for me. Thank you for continuing to educate, inform and elevate.