This is Fresh Air, I'm Terry Gross. Our guest Ruth E. Carter won an Oscar for best costume design

for the film Black Panther, which made her the first black person to win an Oscar in that category.

Now she's nominated for the sequel, Wakanda Forever. This is Carter's fourth Oscar nomination,

marking a 30-year career with more than 60 film and TV credits. She's responsible for the

clothing aesthetic of several of Spike Lee's films, including Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X.

Some of her other films include The Butler, Selma, and Amistad. She even worked on the

Seinfeld pilot. Carter spoke with our guest interviewer, Tanya Mosley, the host of the podcast Truth

Be Told. Over the past 30 years, Ruth E. Carter has produced some of the most iconic looks in the

Black film canon and beyond. She's known for conducting extensive research to create costumes

that help bring character scenes and storylines to life. Her latest work, Black Panther,

Wakanda Forever, starts with a funeral and the fictitious world of Wakanda.

Beloved King Tachala, played by Chadwick Boseman, has died. The actor passed away in real life

from Colin Cancer in 2020 at the age of 43. In the movie, hundreds of mourners line the streets to

watch the funeral procession. Their draped in white, each tribe distinguished by intricate

beadwork, fur, turbines, and other adornments. Carter's attention to detail and her mastery of

historically accurate looks has earned her several awards, including an Oscar and several critics

choice awards and the Career Achievement Award from the costume designers guild. Ruth E. Carter,

welcome to Fresh Air and congrats on your latest Academy Award nomination.

Thank you for having me. It's wonderful to be here.

Were you a Marvel Universe fan in that storyline before taking on the Black Panther movies?

I wasn't. I can't say that I really was. I really love movies and I love Black history and

I love telling stories of people and the history of Black America is something that I have been

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