History almost made this week’s column history.

I was watching the TV marathon known as the Academy Awards and right as they were getting ready to announce the winner for best actress, I luckily put the orange juice I was drinking down on the coffee table next to my open laptop.

I sat back in my seat, assured that my pick — Helen Mirren — would get me one notch closer to being a little more competitive on my Oscar pool sheet. At that point, a few surprises already had me off the pace for taking the top prize. But, I had another surprise to come as I rode out the rest of the epic laying back on the coach.

I heard what I did not think I would hear at all — the name Halle Berry. 

I jumped up and started to clap and cheer as she nervously made her way to the stage. I calmed down to hear her words which are now a part of history as being spoken by the first African American actor to win an Oscar for Best Actress. She could not stop shaking, and I kept saying to her (as if she could hear me), “calm down girl, take a breath, relax, get it right because this clip will play forever.”

After fanning herself for what seemed like an eternity, she let go of the most gracious words I heard all night and she was certainly the most direct person to speak on the position of African Americans in “the business” for the last 75 years.

She said “This is so much bigger than me . . .This is for Dorothy Dandridge and Dianne Carrol, Lena Horne” . . . Black women who were blazing a trail when no one wanted them in Hollywood at all. 

Ms. Berry named and thanked everyone she could with the limited time she had, then she said, “this is for every faceless, nameless actress of color.”

Indeed the night returned an unexpected pleasure for me as a student of the human experience. 

It may not seem like a big deal in the scheme of things we hold really important in life — especially in the wake of Sept. 11 — but forever after it is one less barrier to break in the struggle for equality. Never again will it be new or novel and actors of color know now that it is possible to be rewarded (and paid) for good work.

Is Ms. Berry the first African American woman to turn in a masterful performance? 

I think we know the answer is “of course not.”

Now we know though that at least one year the color of someone’s skin didn’t preclude them for consideration.  And while some will complain “Ms. Berry is only half black and that’s why she got it,” consider that in most of her career, her leading men have been black and her roles — including this one — have been that of black women.  She has also won roles that were written for white women. I personally have not heard Ms. Berry try to dilute her race by playing that “bi-racial” word game that Rae Dawn Chong and Tiger Woods have gotten caught in.

The other aspect of the historical event of course was Denzel. 

I don’t think his was the best performance of the year, but they owed him that one for his masterful performance in “The Hurricane.”  I guess it’s better to be a bad Black character then a good Black character wrongfully convicted.

Nevertheless, for me it is inspiring to know that all the groundwork of James Earl Jones, Sidney Poitier, Ozzie Davis, and too many others to name did make a difference.

For us, it is incentive to always strive for greatness in whatever we do. We do it not just for ourselves, but for those who come behind us. Young people can see you in whatever walk of life you are in and say “They look like me… that must mean I can do the same thing when I get older.” 

It is difficult to remember sometimes, because a life like Ms. Berry’s seems “so much bigger” than ours. When we are paying our bills or getting grief at work or hassling with our family or loved ones, it may not feel like we are being examples, but I think making all those machinations part of a bigger picture may make them easier to bear on your way to greatness and, who knows, maybe an Oscar one day.

I mentioned that hearing history almost made this column history. If I had had that glass in my hand or if I was closer to it, I would have spilled the contents right on the keys of my computer and short it out . . . guess there was more than one miracle that night.

— Gary Anthony Ramsay is a weekend anchor
and journalist on the all-news
cable station NY1 and along-time resident of Queens.