Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson made history at the 2021 Oscars this past Sunday as the first Black women to win a makeup and hairstyling Oscar along with Sergio Lopez-Rivera for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Neal was hair and wig designer and makeup department head; Wilson, personal hair stylist for Viola Davis; and Lopez-Rivera her personal makeup artist. Mia Neal Jamika Wilson HER-story black women win makeup & hairstyling Oscar ‘Ma Rainey’s Black
When asked by blackfilm.com press, immediately following the historic win, if Neal ever expected to win this award, she had this to say:
The unforgettable film was an ode to the transformative power of the blues and the artists who refuse to let society’s prejudices dictate their worth. The powerhouse ensemble cast includes Academy award-winner Viola Davis who plays the proud, complicated, and talented MA RAINEY. Tony and Oliver award-winner Colman Domingo plays the level-headed trombone player Cutler. Emmy winner Glynn Turman is the sagacious piano player Toledo. Michael Potts plays the composed bassist Slow Drag. And the late and great Chadwick Boseman, with perhaps the most nuanced narrative, plays the charismatic, ambitious hot head cornet player Levee.
In Neal’s acceptance speech, the Gary, Indiana native spoke of her family’s history with racism and hope for other marginalized groups to be able to break barriers:
“I was raised by my grandfather, James Holland. He was an original Tuskegee Airman. He represented the U.S. in the first Pan Am Games. He went to Argentina. He met Evita. He graduated from Northwestern University at the time that they did not allow Blacks to stay on campus, so he stayed at the YMCA. And after all of his accomplishments, he went back to his hometown in hopes of becoming a teacher. But they did not hire Blacks in the school system. I want to say thank you to our ancestors who put the work in, were denied but never gave up. And I also stand here as Jamika and I break this glass ceiling with so much excitement for the future. Because I can picture Black trans women standing up here and Asian sisters and our Latino sisters and indigenous women. And I know that one day it won’t be unusual or groundbreaking; it will just be normal. Thank you to the Academy, to Netflix, to Denzel Washington, to George C. Wolfe, to Ann Roth, to Miss Viola Davis, to Matiki Anoff, to Andrea Resnick, to the spirit of Ma Rainey. Thank you.”
Blackfilm.com interviewed Mia Neal back in March and she shared her techniques and behind-the-scenes stories from transforming Viola Davis into the real-life Mother of Blues, crafting Ma Rainey’s look using what was accessible to a Black woman in the 1920s and turning a manure-covered, lice-infested bundle of horse hair into Ma Rainey’s shiny wig. See photos and watch interview HERE.
Oscars 2021 List of Black Winners, Upsets & Funniest Moment
Mia Neal & Jamika Wilson Make HER-story as First Black Women to Win Makeup & Hairstyling Oscar for ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
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