It took more than 70 years for the Best Actress Oscar to go to a black woman so you can’t blame anybody for seeing that opportunity as being completely closed off prior to Berry’s win.
When Halle Berry accepted her Best Actress Oscar for Monster’s Ball she dedicated it to other women of color who she believed now had a chance because the door had been opened.
It’s a fairly depressing perspective on the whole thing, but one that you can’t help but understand.
It’s more than a little upsetting to hear Berry speaking at the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity (via Teen Vogue) and hear that the excitement of the moment has faded to a feeling that it really meant nothing.