Matthew A. Cherry, Cut From Ravens In 2006, Wins Oscar For Best Animated Short For 'Hair Love'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Congratulations to Matthew A. Cherry!
The NFL wide receiver turned filmmaker's short film, "Hair Love," is the Academy Award winner for Best Short Film (Animated).
Hair Love is a 2019 American animated short film written, produced and directed by Cherry, following the story of a man who must do his daughter's hair for the first time.
It features actress Issa Rae as a voice. Cherry was determined to challenge how black hair and black families are shown in mainstream media.
Funnily enough, Cherry tweeted in 2012 that he would be nominated for an Oscar one day!
Cherry was cut from the Ravens in 2006, and now 14 years later, he's an Academy Award winner.
Cherry invited Deandre Arnold, the Texas teen who was told to cut his dreadlocks or he couldn't attend graduation, to the Oscars.
Last year, Montgomery County passed a bill making it illegal to discriminate against natural hair and protective hairstyles. Several states have passed similar laws.
