The 80th annual Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael, opened with Carmichael immediately confronting the absence of Blackness at the award show in the past.

Carmichael is the Golden Globes’ first Black host. He sardonically owned up to taking the job knowing the organization hasn’t taken as many strides as it probably could in the wake of equity, diversity and inclusion committees being implemented all over the country in different professions.

However, with more actors of diversity getting nominated in their justified roles and categories, a progressive outlook on Hollywood and the things it stands for is changing and saving face.

Heartwarming moments during the show include Ke Huy Quan’s win for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Quan is also best known for his role in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” as the young Short Round.

Angela Bassett accepted her second Golden Globe at the ceremony, this time as Best Supporting Actress for her in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Bassett, in a humble and charming speech, quoted the late Toni Morrison.

Bassett’s first Golden Globe win was for “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” a biopic about the late, very talented Tina Turner in 1994. Bassett is also a lead in one of my favorite movies centered around the lives and worlds of Black women, “Waiting to Exhale.”

One thing awards shows never miss is jumping on the bandwagon of current pop culture trends. This is apparent when “The White Lotus” actress Jennifer Coolidge presented the category of Best Supporting Actor TV series, which Tyler James Williams, my childhood crush, won.

I spent way too many days in my youth avidly watching reruns of “Everybody Hates Chris,” on TV. I found myself relating, cringing and falling in awe with William’s character Chris, and the odd situations he found himself in trying to survive everyday life as a Black kid attending a predominantly white school.

With a character whose life almost paralleled mine, it’s so nice to cheer on the journey of an actor I can see myself in, but also one deserving of such an award for his role in “Abbott Elementary.”

Whenever I’m reminded that award shows exist and tune into them, especially if they pertain to film or TV, I always get great movie or show recommendations, and there is a long list of movies I want to watch that slipped me by these past couple of months.

A community whose work I’ve never given much thought to watch and gets little representation outside of their country is Indian filmmakers. I thought it was nice that Best Original Song, Motion Picture went to “Naatu Naatu” from the Indian Telugu-language movie “RRR.”

Not to mention, awards shows that are done right and are inclusive of all communities are great sources to compile movie watchlists from. “RRR” isn’t the only film I wish to watch now. I also added “Babylon,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Tar,” “The Fabelman’s,” “Argentina, 1985” and so many more to my list of must-see films.

As a fan of his music and TV show “Atlanta,” I wish Donald Glover had won in the category for Best Actor in a TV Series and gotten the recognition his acting deserved. However, I understand why Jeremy Allen White’s great, heartbreaking performance in “The Bear” was awarded all the same.

The award for Best Actress in a TV Series went to the very deserving Quinta Brunson — whose Twitter account is in my top five favorites to follow. Brunson is a great choice and talented at delivering witty, relatable and heartwarming episodes depicting an inner-city elementary school in the TV comedy “Abbot Elementary.”

Although the length of the Golden Globes tends to bore me and my forever short attention span, this year’s Golden Globes ceremony kept me captivated for a whole hour and made me wonder why I was so engrossed in it to begin with.

And then, as my television buffered due to my wacky and ever-changing internet connection in my apartment, it dawned on me.

Yes, the Globes audience was largely white, but lacking the experience of seeing awards shows packed full of people in the audience who looked like me or were also ostracized by Hollywood and the film, music and entertainment industries in the past, I was glad the people of color in attendance were winning.

I appreciated how they weren’t just nominated to fill a quota or to politely sit in the audience and watch, knowing the standard for being good enough lay in the lack of representation and the normalcy of whiteness in these spaces sets a harsh barrier for people of color to break through in all aspects of film, music and TV.

And even though some of Carmichael’s jokes didn’t land with me, I enjoyed the 80th Golden Globes, but I think those in charge can do even more regarding inclusivity. I also hope other awards shows, films, TV shows and industries that uphold the standard of creation in these spaces continue to progress as well.

They are just scratching the surface, and I am looking forward to future events like this.

Here is the full list of winners from the 80th Golden Globe Awards.