Blacks made big impacts in various award categories. Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” won an Oscar. A record number of Blacks received Emmy nominations and Regina King, Thandie Newton and Tiffany Haddish actually took home wins. In addition to winning four Grammys for rap music, Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize for music, making history as the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious prize. The 30-year-old won the prize for “DAMN,” his raw and powerful Grammy-winning album.

I’m a Houstonian (by way of Smackover, Arkansas). My most important job is being a wife to my amazing husband, mother to my three children, and daughter to my loving mother. I am the National Bestselling...