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An American costume designer, Ruth Carter, is now the first Black woman to receive two Oscar Awards. She took home the 2023 Oscar for best costume design.Â
Ruth was honored for the sequel to Marvel’s Black Panther, Wakanda Forever. Hence, she made history as the first Black person to win the Oscar for Best Costume Design. Keep reading to catch more details.
The Black Woman Gave A Heartfelt Speech
Ruth gave a sincere speech after winning, recognizing several of the audience members. She started by thanking her mother, who recently passed away at age 101.Â
“She endures, she loves, she overcomes. She is every woman in this film. She is my mother,” the 62-year-old said.
On stage, Ruth revealed that her mom had joined her ancestors.
Ruth did not keep her speech short. She continued by paying tribute to the late Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman. Wakanda Forever was especially produced to pay significant respect to the actor. Ruth requested that the late Chadwick take care of her mother.Â
The Oscar award winner also thanked the  Wakanda Forever co-producer Nate Moore and director-cowriter Ryan Coogler for his vision. “Together, we are altering how culture is represented,” she said after thanking them.
An Outstanding AchievementÂ
Before the Oscar Awards, Ruth cited creating the costumes for Wakanda as one of the greatest challenges of her career. She had to consider the actual immersion of her creations in water.
Ruth’s diligence made it unsurprising that she won instead of Catherine Martin. Catherine took both the BAFTA and Costume Designers Guild prizes for her work on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.Â
She also beat Mary Zophres for Babylon and Jenny Beaven for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.Â
In addition, she beat Shirley Kurata for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which unexpectedly took home the Sci-Fi Fantasy award at the CDGA.
Ruth Carter’s Oscar Award for Best Costume Design was well deserved; she is certainly an inspiration to many black women in the industry.