Pictured are R&B Singer and Songwriter John Legend (without beard) and Hip Hop Artist Common ( wearing beard). Both received an Oscar at the 87th Academy Awards Sunday night for best original song for "Glory," the theme song on the Selma movie soundtrack. Selma lost in the best movie category to Birdman.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, Cleveland Urban News.Com, and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper and newspaper blog. Tel: (216) 659-0473.

Coleman is a community activist and 21-year investigative journalist who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio.

(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

LOS ANGELES, California-Ohio native John Legend and hip hop artist Common took home the Oscar at the 87th Academy Awards Sunday night for best original song for 'Glory"  from the Selma movie soundtrack, with Legend condemning the high rate of incarceration of Black men during his acceptance speech, and saying that voting rights that Blacks and others fought to gain during the Civil Rights movement have been compromised. The Grammy award winning artist took the same voting rights stance in 2012 during a one-on-one interview with Cleveland Urban News.Com while he campaigned in Ohio for the reelection of President Obama. (Editor's note: Read the full list of the 2015 Oscar winners at the end of this article, and read the one-on-one interview by Cleveland Urban News.Com with Legend, published in 2012, by clicking on the link below)

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WITH JOHN LEGEND BY CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS AND CLICK HERE TO READ THE ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WITH JOHN LEGEND BY THE KATHY WRAY COLEMAN ONLINE NEWS BLOG.COM

"We know that the voting rights they fought for 50 years ago are being compromised in this country today," said Legend during his acceptance speech on Sunday, one that drew a standing ovation, as did his moving Oscar performance with Common earlier that night that brought some audience members to tears.

He added that "more Black men are under correctional control today than were in slavery."

Legend's comments on voting were relative to state laws adopted by Republican dominated state legislatures across the country that suppress voting and as to provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that removed barriers to voting in Southern U.S. states, provisions that are facing court scrutiny in recent years to the detriment of the Black community.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in 2013, struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that required federal court approval for state legislatures to adopt or to substantively amend voting rights laws, a previous mandate designed to counter historical racial discrimination in voting in some states. Ohio is not among those discretionary states, though it and others are impacted by the ruling.

A native of Springfield, Ohio, a city 25 miles northeast of Dayton, Legend, 36, earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania before becoming a famous songwriter, musician and R&B singer.

During the interview with Cleveland Urban News.Com, which was published on September 7, 2012, Legend spoke on women's rights, abortion rights, and gay rights, all of which he supports, though he is not gay, and is married to model Chrissy Teigen. And he addressed a number of other issues, including  his professional relationship and friendship with singer Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

Voting rights were at the heart of the interview, and Legend is passionate and well versed on the controversial subject.

"As you know Republican dominated state legislatures across the country have passed or are attempting to pass state laws that suppress the Black vote. How do you feel about it?" asked Cleveland Urban News.Com editor-in-chief Kathy Wray Coleman during the 2012 interview with Legend.

"Well, I think it’s a tragedy," said Legend in responding to the question. "Lately, the Republicans have been admitting that they just want to suppress certain votes to win the elections for their side."

Legend said also during that interview that in 'Pennsylvania, you saw that one of the state politicians there stated that the state's voter identification laws would help Mitt Romney win,' and in Ohio, "the state official [Republican Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted] stated that he didn't want to extend voting hours in the Democratic communities because he didn't want to do anything to help Black people vote."

"It’s a clear violation of equal rights," Legend told Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper.

Selma was also nominated for best picture but lost Sunday night to Birdman.

Black actors received not one academy awards nomination, prompting widespread criticism, including from Oscar Host Neil Patrick Harris, who joked to the audience that"tonight we honor Hollywood's best and whitest, I mean brightest.”

A full list of 2015 Oscar winners is as follows: