A Bittersweet Accolade

Earlier this evening, Chadwick Boseman was posthumously awarded the Best Actor award at the Golden Globes for his portrayal of Levee in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Today is also the six month anniversary of Chadwick’s passing. So tonight’s much-deserved accolade is definitely a bittersweet one.

Following is how Pitchfork’s Allison Hussey reports on Chadwick’s win.

The late Chadwick Boseman won a posthumous award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama at the Golden Globes tonight. He won for his portrayal of a trumpet player named Levee in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom over fellow nominees Gary Oldman (Mank), Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian), and Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal).

His widow Simone Ledward Boseman accepted on his behalf [left]. “He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices,” she said. “He would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside of all of us that tells us you can, that tells you to keep going, that calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history.”

Boseman died at 43 last summer following a four-year battle with colon cancer, a diagnosis he hadn’t shared publicly. His performance as in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was his final film role, following Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and his megastar status as the Black Panther in the Marvel universe.

NEXT: Chadwick Boseman Receives
Posthumous NAACP Image Award

Related Off-site Links:
Chadwick Boseman Wins Best Actor at Golden Globes 2021 for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Allison Hussey (Pitchfork, February 28, 2021).
The Late Chadwick Boseman Is the Fourth Black Actor to Win a Golden Globe for Dramatic Lead – Sonaiya Kelley (Los Angeles Times, February 28, 2021).
Chadwick Boseman’s Wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, Accepts His Golden Globe Win – Jenny Hollander (Marie Claire, February 28, 2021).
Angela Bassett Says the Late Chadwick Boseman’s “Spirit Still Lives On” at 2021 Golden Globes – Dana Rose Falcone (People, February 28, 2021).
Kids Were Asked Who Chadwick Boseman Is At the Golden Globes, and People Online Weren’t “Emotionally Prepared” for Their Sweet Answers – Jacob Sarkisian (Insider, February 28, 2021).
“He Truly Learned to Play”: Chadwick Boseman’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Co-Stars Say Late Actor Mastered Playing the Trumpet for His Role in Film – Adam S. Levy (Daily Mail, December 21, 2020).
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: Real Life Levee and “Jelly Roll” Song Explained – Sarah Bea Milner (Screen Rant, December 19, 2020).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Remembering Chadwick Boseman
• Honoring An Icon
• Chadwick Boseman’s Timeless Message to Young Voters: “You Can Turn Our Nation Around”
• Chadwick Boseman’s Final Film Role: “A Reed Instrument for Every Painful Emotion”
• Celebrating a Special Day
• Boseman on Wilson
• Chadwick Boseman and That “Heavenly Light”
• In This Time of Grief
• The Important Cultural Moment That Is Black Panther
• Celebrating Black Panther – Then and Now
• “Avengers Assemble!”
• Jason Johnson on Stan Lee’s Revolutionary Legacy
• Another First for Black Panther
• “Something Special,” Indeed!
• Queer Black Panther