Oprah Joins Hollywood’s Elite In The Fight For More Black Films

By JAKE COYLE 11/06/13 10:29 AM ET EST

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey has heard this story before.

A wave of high-profile films about black people receives accolades. A heart-warming trend of greater on-screen equality is declared. Hollywood basks in its multiculturalism — and then returns to business as usual.

From the slavery odyssey “12 Years a Slave” to the day-in-a-life drama “Fruitvale Station,” this fall has been a banner season for films of racial struggle told without white protagonists and largely by black directors. As one of the stars of the Civil Rights history “Lee Daniels‘ The Butler,” Winfrey is a proud player in a rare moment for African-Americans at the movies. But she and many others have tired of celebrating occasional aberrations of what should be Hollywood’s regular output.

“We’ve been through this before,” says Winfrey. “I don’t want it to be, ‘Oh, gee, we had the 10 films and now it’s another five years before you see another one.'”  2013 is a historical high-point for black-themed films, a culmination of Obama-era cinema. But the filmmakers and actors who made this confluence happen are resolutely against being resigned to a mere trend story, soon to be followed by another lull in diversity.

Read on Oprah Joins Hollywood Elite-More Black Films

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Honoring Women in Washington, DC

Last Tuesday evening several of us attended a reception held by the Coalition for Women’s Appointments (BPW Foundation is a member of this Coalition) saluting women appointees in the Obama Administration. It was held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in DC and was packed. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke and demonstrated her great sense of humor and Coalition Chair Irene Natividad was generous with compliments for the Coalition of Women Appointees and the event’s co-sponsors including BPW Foundation. Secretary Sebelius was a Coalition recommendation and we took full credit. Most of the women’s groups were represented. Tina Tchen, Director White House Office of Presidential Personnel and Executive Director White House Council on Women and Girls spoke and was charming as usual. The new Director of White House Personnel, Nancy Hogan, said that there are over 1,000 women appointees in the Obama Administration. 325 Appointees RSVPd to the event and the room and mezzanine were near capacity with over 300 people.

Check out the attached picture of Secretary Sebelius, myself and Debbie.

Me, Secretary Sebelius, CEO Frett