Black actors triumphed with two of the four main acting awards at the 79th Oscars which unfolded in Hollywood Sunday, February 25, 2007. But there were upsets too.

Topping the winners list was Forest Whitaker for his enthralling and charistic performance as Ugandan strongman Idi Amin. Former “American Idol” contestant Jennifer Hudson scored the best supporting actress award for her debut performance in the musical “Dreamgirls.”

“Receiving this honor tonight tells me that it’s possible, it is possible for a kid from East Texas, raised in South Central L.A. and Carson, who believes in his dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them and to have them happen,” Whitaker said as he accepted his award.

Eddie Murphy, co-star in “Dreamgirls”, was favoured to win, but lost out early to Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”). Leading up to the Oscars, some speculated that the recent release of Murphy’s low-brow, cross-dressing comedy “Norbit” would injure his Oscar prospects. And various anti-Murhpy white-media led campaigns opposing his Oscar nominatin, did not help Murhy either.

Other best supporting actor nominees included Will Smith for his role in “Pursuit of Happyness” and Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond.”

Good Year

This year’s event has been hailed one of the best for Black actors. “It’s a wonderful year to be an African-American actor,” Beyonce Knowles (who co-starred with Murphy and Hudson in “Dreamgirls”) said on the red carpet before the ceremony.

After a long history of the Academy Awards being a largely all-white affair (Chris Rock once called the Oscars a “million white man march”) this was the third year where multiple Black actors won Oscars.

Denzel Washington (“Training Day”) and Halle Berry (“Monster’s Ball”) memorably shattered the Oscars’ racial ceiling in 2002, the first time Blacks won both lead-acting prizes. In 2005, Jamie Foxx (“Ray”) and Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”) won Academy Awards, prompting Freeman to say: “It means that Hollywood is continuing to make history. We’re evolving with the rest of the world.”