Before I talk about some history that could be made tomorrow morning, allow me to share some cold hard facts about the Academy’s track record with black talent over the course of 81 years:

• only 54 performances by only 42 black actors have been nominated for Oscars — Jamie Foxx, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, Djimon Hounsou, Sidney Poitier, Will Smith and Denzel Washington have garnered multiple nods – and only 12 have won (19 of those nominations, or 35%, and 6 of those wins, or 50%, came in 2000 or after)
• as for the other major categories, only 1 producer, 1 director, and 5 screenwriters have been nominated for Oscars — accounting for only 5 individuals and 6 films — and 0 have won
• of the many acclaimed feature films with casts composed entirely or largely of black actors — including “Cabin in the Sky” (1943), “Stormy Weather” (1943), “Carmen Jones” (1954), “Porgy and Bess” (1959), “A Raisin in the Sun” (1961), “Lady Sings the Blues” (1972), “Claudine” (1974), “Coming to America” (1988), “Do the Right Thing” (1989), “Malcolm X” (1992), “Hustle & Flow” (2005), and “Dreamgirls” (2006) — only four have ever received best picture nominations: “Sounder” (1972), “A Soldier’s Story” (1984), “The Color Purple” (1985, which then went on to tie “The Turning Point” (1977) as the biggest loser in the history of the Oscars by failing to win any of its 11 nominations), and “Ray” (2004)
• “Hoop Dreams” (1994), which Roger Ebert calls “the great American documentary” and includes on his list of the 10 greatest films of all-time, wasn’t even nominated for best documentary

Over the past decade, though, the Academy appears to have made a conscious effort to invite more minorities (in terms of race and gender) to become voters, and in close races for presumptive “fifth spots” minorities have increasingly prevailed. Consider the following examples:

• Queen Latifah (“Chicago,” 2002) for best supporting actress
• Djimon Hounsou (“In America,” 2003) for best supporting actor
• Don Cheadle (“Hotel Rwanda,” 2004) for best actor
• Catalina Sandino Moreno (“Maria Full of Grace,” 2004) for best actress
  
• Sophie Okonedo (“Hotel Rwanda,” 2004) for best supporting actress
• Terence Howard (“Hustle & Flow,” 2005) for best actor
• Penelope Cruz (“Volver,” 2006) for best actress
• Adriana Barraza (“Babel,” 2006) for best supporting actress
• Ruby Dee (“American Gangster,” 2007) for best supporting actress
• Taraji P. Henson (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” 2008) for best supporting actress
  

Tomorrow morning, though, the history books could be rewritten altogether, as the following nominations seem well within the realm of possibility:

• “Precious” for best picture — Lee Daniels, one of its three producers, would be only the second black producer to be nominated for best picture
• Lee Daniels (“Precious”) for best director — would be only the second black director to be nominated for best director (he was recently the first to be nominated by the DGA)
• Morgan Freeman (“Invictus”) for best actor — would be only the 18th performance by a black actor to be nominated for best actor; would join Washington as the only black actors with three best actor nominations and five overall acting nominations
• Gabby Sidibe (“Precious”) for best actress — would be only the 8th black actress/8th performance by a black actress to be nominated for best actress
• Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”) for best supporting actor — would be only the 13th black actor/16th performance by a black actor to be nominated for best supporting actor
• Mo’Nique (“Precious”) for best supporting actress — would be only the 16th black actress/16th performance by a black actress to be nominated for best supporting actress
• Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”) for best adapted screenplay — would be only the 3rd black screenwriter to be nominated for best adapted screenplay, and the 6th black screenwriter to be nominated for any screenplay

To help you appreciate the significance of any or all of the above actually panning out tomorrow morning, here is a complete breakdown of how black individuals have fared at the Oscars over the past 81 years:

BEST PICTURE (0 for 1)

1. Quincy Jones (“The Color Purple,” 1985)

BEST DIRECTOR (0 for 1)

1. John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood,” 1991)

BEST ACTOR (4 for 17)

1. Sidney Poitier (“The Defiant Ones,” 1958)
2. Sidney Poitier (“Lilies of the Field,” 1963) WON
3. James Earl Jones (“The Great White Hope,” 1970)
4. Paul Winfield (“Sounder,” 1972)
5. Dexter Gordon (“‘Round Midnight,” 1986)
6. Morgan Freeman (“Driving Miss Daisy,” 1989)
7. Denzel Washington (“Malcolm X,” 1992)
8. Laurence Fishburne (“What’s Love Got to Do with It,” 1993)
9. Morgan Freeman (“The Shawshank Redemption,” 1994)
10. Denzel Washington (“The Hurricane,” 1999)
11. Will Smith (“Ali,” 2001)
12. Denzel Washington (“Training Day,” 2001) WON
13. Don Cheadle (“Hotel Rwanda,” 2004)
14. Jamie Foxx (“Ray,” 2004) WON
15. Terrence Howard (“Hustle and Flow,” 2005)
16. Will Smith (“The Pursuit of Happyness,” 2006)
17. Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland,” 2006) WON

BEST ACTRESS (1 for 7)

1. Dorothy Dandridge (“Carmen Jones,” 1954)
2. Diana Ross (“Lady Sings the Blues,” 1972)
3. Cicely Tyson (“Sounder,” 1972)
4. Diahann Carroll (“Claudine,” 1974)
5. Whoopi Goldberg (“The Color Purple,” 1985)
6. Angela Bassett (“What’s Love Got to Do with It,” 1993)
7. Halle Berry (“Monster’s Ball,” 2001) WON

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (4 for 15)

1. Rupert Cross (“The Reivers,” 1969)
2. Howard E. Rollins Jr. (“Ragtime,” 1981)
3. Louis Gossett Jr. (“An Officer and a Gentleman,” 1982) WON
4. Adolph Caesar (“A Soldier’s Story,” 1984)
5. Morgan Freeman (“Street Smart,” 1987)
6. Denzel Washington (“Cry Freedom,” 1987)
7. Denzel Washington (“Glory,” 1989) WON
8. Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction,” 1994)
9. Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Jerry Maguire,” 1996) WON
10. Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile,” 1999)
11. Djimon Hounsou (“In America,” 2003)
12. Jamie Foxx (“Collateral,” 2004)
13. Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby,” 2004) WON
14. Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond,” 2006)
15. Eddie Murphy (“Dreamgirls,” 2006)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (3 for 15)

1. Hattie McDaniel (“Gone with the Wind,” 1939) WON
2. Ethel Waters (“Pinky,” 1948)
3. Juanita Moore (“Imitation of Life,” 1959)
4. Beah Richards (“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” 1967)
5. Alfre Woodard (“Cross Creek,” 1983)
6. Margaret Avery (“The Color Purple,” 1985)
7. Oprah Winfrey (“The Color Purple,” 1985)
8. Whoopi Goldberg (“Ghost,” 1990) WON
9. Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Secrets and Lies,” 1996)
10. Queen Latifah (“Chicago,” 2002)
11. Sophie Okonedo (“Hotel Rwanda,” 2004)
12. Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls,” 2006) WON
13. Ruby Dee (“American Gangster,” 2007)
14. Viola Davis (“Doubt,” 2008)
15. Taraji P. Henson (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” 2008)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (0 for 2)

1. Lonne Elder III (“Sounder,” 1972)
2. Charles Fuller (“A Soldier’s Story,” 1984)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (0 for 3)

1. Suzanne de Passe (“Lady Sings the Blues,” 1972)
2. Spike Lee (“Do the Right Thing,” 1989)
3. John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood,” 1991)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (0 for 1)

1. Remi Adefarasin (“Elizabeth,” 1998)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN (0 for 4)

1. Ruth E. Carter (“Malcolm X,” 1992)
2. Ruth E. Carter (“Amistad,” 1997)
3. Sharen Davis (“Ray,” 2004)
4. Sharen Davis (“Dreamgirls,” 2006)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE) (0 for 3)

1. Spike Lee (“4 Little Girls,” 1997)
2. Samuel D. Pollard (“4 Little Girls,” 1997)
3. Karolyn All (“Tupac: Resurrection,” 2004)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT) (0 for 1)

1. Leelai Demoz (“On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom,” 2001)

BEST FILM EDITING (0 for 1)

1. Hugh A. Robertson (“Midnight Cowboy,” 1969)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (2 for 8)

1. Duke Ellington (“Paris Blues,” 1961)
2. Quincy Jones (“In Cold Blood,” 1967)
3. Isaac Hayes (“Shaft,” 1971)
4. Quincy Jones (“The Wiz,” 1978)
5. Prince (“Purple Rain,” 1984) WON
6. Quincy Jones (“The Color Purple,” 1985)
7. Herbie Hancock (“‘Round Midnight,” 1986) WON
8. Jonas Gwangwa (“Cry Freedom,” 1987)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG (5 for 24)

1. Quincy Jones (“Banning,” 1967)
2. Bob Russell (“Banning,” 1967)
3. Quincy Jones (“For Love of Ivy,” 1968)
4. Bob Russell (“For Love of Ivy,” 1968)
5. Isaac Hayes (“Shaft,” 1971) WON
6. Lionel Richie (“Endless Love,” 1981)
7. Irene Cara (“Flashdance,” 1987) WON
8. Ray Parker, Jr. (“Ghostbusters,” 1984)
9. Stevie Wonder (“The Woman in Red,” 1984) WON
10. Lionel Richie (“White Nights,” 1985) WON
11. Quincy Jones (“The Color Purple,” 1985)
12. Lionel Richie (“The Color Purple,” 1985)
13. Jonas Gwangwa (“Cry Freedom,” 1987)
14. Lamont Dozier (“Buster,” 1988)
15. Janet Jackson (“Poetic Justice,” 1993)
16. Jimmy Jam (“Poetic Justice,” 1993)
17. Terry Lewis (“Poetic Justice,” 1993)
18. James Ingram (“Beethoven’s 2nd,” 1994)
19. James Ingram (“Junior,” 1995)
20. Three Six Mafia (“Hustle and Flow,” 2005) WON
21. Sledah Garrett (“Dreamgirls,” 2006)
22. Joseph Jamal (“August Rush,” 2007)
23. Charles Mack (“August Rush,” 2007)
24. Tevin Thomas (“August Rush,” 2007)

BEST SHORT (LIVE ACTION) (0 for 2)

• David Massey (“Last Breeze of Summer,” 1991)
• Dianne Houston (“Tuesday Morning Ride,” 1995)

BEST SOUND EDITING (3 for 8)

1. Willie D. Burton (“The Buddy Holly Story,” 1978)
2. Willie D. Burton (“Altered States,” 1980)
3. Willie D. Burton (“Wargames,” 1983)
4. Willie D. Burton (“Birds,” 1988) WON
5. Russell Williams II (“Glory,” 1989) WON
6. Russell Williams II (“Dances with Wolves,” 1990) WON
7. Willie D. Burton (“The Shawshank Redemption,” 1994)
8. Willie D. Burton (“The Green Mile,” 1999)

BEST SOUND MIXING (1 for 1)

1. Willie D. Burton (“Dreamgirls,” 2006) WON

Photo: “Precious” Oscar hopefuls Mariah Carey, Gabby Sidibe, Lee Daniels, Mo’Nique, and Paula Patton. Credit: Getty Images.