A couple of weeks ago, the nominations for the Oscars were announced and sent Twitter and social media into a frenzy. #OscarsSoWhite was the trending topic, which left us wondering two things; are the board members who are in charge of nominations being discriminatory against minorities? Or is the lack of diverse films in the industry the reason why the Oscars aren’t as diverse as they can be?

The answer is simple, right? Many would choose the latter and say the Oscars voters are prejudiced and the elite of the elite don’t want to see other cultures winning those shiny, gold prestigious awards.

In 2015 there was an array of poignant movies that starred incredible talented African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and women. Thus leaving many notably known actors and directors to boycott the Oscars this year.

Will Smith played a Nigerian forensic pathologist who fought against efforts by the National Football League to suppress research on brain damage suffered by professional football players.

Michael B. Jordan did a great job playing an actor who is following in his late father’s footsteps to become a professional boxer in “Creed,” where the director was African American as well.

“Straight Out Of Compton” was a story of rappers who made a movement against racial profiling from the police. Even though most of the cast was relatively unknown, the acting was great.

Also Idris Elba, who is known for amazing acting, brought the film “Beast Of No Nation” to life. He also didn’t receive a mention.

So, we all would like to know what are the requirements to get an Academy Award. The nomination process is managed by an accounting firm and the nominees are chosen mainly by men who’re involved in the film industry. They place their vote and then an actor is on the path to winning an Academy Award.

Spike Lee, who is well known as an innovator, directed “Chi-Raq,” and even though they made him his own honorable award, he still refused to attend the Oscars and boycott the event.

Are the actors boycotting this years Oscars taking things to far by not attending a traditional event? We would like to say no, some feel as though they deserve at least a nod for their amazing jobs that they played in the films.

What can we do to make the Oscars better? How can we make the Oscars assorted? Maybe they can take viewers choice polls and listen to the people instead of Hollywood’s elite.

At Los Medanos College, we have very diverse plays that offer many different roles for various people. If we as a whole want to see a change in the Oscars, then we must take a stand and start speaking to the upper echelon about the changes in movies, roles, and making the Oscars diverse for us all.