LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood's diversity crisis has loomed large over awards season and the big question going into the 88th annual Academy Awards was whether it would dominate the ceremony, too. It did, of course, but it wasn't alone.
The evening turned out to be a platform not just for racial representation in the movies, led by host Chris Rock's incisive insight and parody, but a wide array of causes, from global warming and bank reform to sexual abuse in church and on campus. It was a subtle plea from the film community that the movies and artists honored at Sunday night's ceremony did have purpose and meaning — even in this second year of #OscarsSoWhite.
On a fateful day in 2003, 23-year-old Pfc. Lori Piestewa was traveling with a 600-vehicle convoy through the Iraqi desert before dawn. Three of the heavier vehicles, including hers, became lost. They ended up in the very city they had planned to avoid, Nasiriyah. When Piestewa's Humvee was attacked, she was taken prisoner and later died of her injuries. She became the first Native American woman in history to be killed in combat. Piestewa's heroism during the ambush was inspiring. But it came at a great cost: in addition to her life, she left behind two small children.
Piestewa was born on a Navajo reservation near Tuba City, Arizona. She was given the Hopi name Qötsa-Hon-Mana, which means White Bear Girl. Piestewa's family had a long history with the military. Her father, Terry, is a full-blooded Hopi Native American who served in the Vietnam War. Her paternal grandfather was also a veteran, having served in Europe during World War II.
