#todd boyd

Birth of a channel

Soundtrack for generations

Changing with the times

Time Decorated: The Musical Influences of Jean-Michel Basquiat | Part 3

Rapper's Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made The World

A visual and cultural history of hip hop, charting its meteoric rise from underground trailblazer to global tastemaker.

From fashion to pop culture, the series examines how through decades America’s style and iconic moments reflected the country’s political and social climate. Stars: Eric Avila, Jeffrey Banks, Todd Boyd

This week saw the release of The 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report by Darnell Hunt, director of the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. The results were not available at press time, but Hunt recently hinted that his latest data will reveal that the industry hasn't improved much since his 2014 analysis, which showed that out of 172 movies and more than 1,000 television shows, about one in 10 leading roles in films went to minorities, and about one in 20 leading roles in scripted television went to people of color. This, in a county where half the population is Latino. This, in a state where Latinos have surpassed whites as the largest racial-ethnic group. This, in a nation that's one-third nonwhite. "In L.A.," Chris Rock said in a scathing essay published this winter in The Hollywood Reporter, "you've got to try not to hire Mexicans.

In fact, because of the so-called browning of the nation, "The gap between where the industry is and where America is has actually grown," Hunt says.

The business is changing slowly, but the barriers remain steep. "The problem is the agencies, the casting directors, the film studios — the executives in all parts of the entertainment industry," says Alex Nogales, president and CEO of the L.A.-based National Hispanic Media Coalition.