Kobe Bryant was the first, winning in the same category for his short ‘Dear Basketball’. The heartfelt story was critically acclaimed, winning an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in Sunday’s Academy Awards.Ĭherry is only the second former athlete to win an Oscar. ‘Hair Love’ focuses on a black father learning to style his daughter, Zuri’s hair for the first time. The six-minute film was featured in theaters in 2019 ahead of ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’. The short even drew attention from Pixar animator, Frank Abney, who jumped on as an executive producer. However, after missing the entire 2006 NFL season, Cherry retired from football to pursue a career in the film industry.Ī 2017 Kickstarter for ‘Hair Love’ flew past its original goal of $75,000 and raised almost $300,000. After going undrafted, he signed with multiple NFL teams including a brief stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Cherry in his Oscar-winning animated short, ‘Hair Love’.Ĭherry attended college at the University of Akron, where he played wide receiver for four years, breaking multiple school records. One of the most recent and powerful efforts to help normalize ethnic hair came last year from Matthew A. There has been a lot of pushback against the stigmatization of black hairstyles, especially from the black community. Locs have been prohibited from many a workplace with afros and cornrows being viewed as “unprofessional”. Afrocentric hairstyles have long been stigmatized in American culture.

Matthew a cherry hair love