The Walker Curates the News: 01.19.15

David Oyeloqo as Martin Luther King in Ava DuVernay's Selma.

David Oyelowo (center) as Martin Luther King in Ava DuVernay’s Selma.

“Even for the Oscars—even for the Oscars—this is a really, really lot of white people,” writes NPR’s Linda Holmes of the newest slate of nominees (dubbed the “whitest Oscars since 1998“). “Every nominated actor in Lead and Supporting categories—20 actors in all–is white. Every nominated director is male. Every nominated screenwriter is male.” The 2015 awards’ lack of diversity sparked the hashtag #Oscarssowhite, while many in the media characterized the omission of MLK biopic Selma, which received a lone nomination, by the Academy as a “snub” (Google News currently shows more than 6 million results for the search Oscar + Selma + snub).

  • The celebrated humanitarian design group Architecture for Humanity has closed abruptly after nearly 16 years. At its peak, the San Francisco–based nonprofit had more than 60 chapters that organized community-based design projects, often in response to natural disasters like hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes.  “It’s easier to find funding for an app,” one observer noted, than for a group that “transforms lives in places most Americans don’t know exist.”.

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