"Will I be remembered?"
— Alexandre Dumas, on his deathbed.

On the surface, 2001 seems like it was a good year for African American actors and the movies. Halle Berry has already received a number of acting honors for her role in "Monster's Ball," and she seems well-positioned to get an Academy Award nomination. Denzel Washington, who picked up a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in "Glory" (1989), may get another nomination this year for his much-lauded performance in "Training Day." Will Smith and Jamie Foxx may also get nominations for their roles in the biopic "Ali."

But beneath the surface, 2001 wasn't really that great a year at all. Washington is a terrific actor —perhaps the best in Hollywood — but it is somewhat dispiriting to note that, after a career of playing mostly heroes, he's gotten some of the best reviews of his career for playing a negative character (in "Training Day" he portrays an out of control crooked cop). Yes, actors should stretch themselves — but frankly, the man should have won a Best Actor Oscar for "Malcolm X" in 1992 (instead, Washington lost out to Al Pacino for his role in "Scent of a Woman").

And although Berry's performance in "Monster's Ball" is indeed excellent, the script, to my mind, is misguided. In the film, Berry plays a woman who falls in love (or at least in lust) with the racist corrections officer (played by Billy Bob Thornton) who executed her husband (played by Sean "P.Diddy" Combs). Thornton's character never apologizes, never explains himself, and we're supposed to applaud him for having the guts to cross racial lines and sleep with Halle Berry? Please. Master Tom Moore in "Roots" crossed racial boundaries and slept with Kizzy and I didn't applaud him either. Yes, we should support and encourage love when it has the courage and strength, in a Romeo and Juliet-like way, to cross social boundaries.  But true redemption requires a bit more than getting it on with good-looking African American women.

Some of the best films of last year that featured Black characters were below the radar. "Lumumba," a film which tells the true story of Patrice Lumumba, the martyred leader of the Congo, was one of my favorite films of the last year or so, but almost nobody saw it (HBO plans to broadcast the film on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 10:05pm ET/PT). "Our Song," a small film produced by REM frontman Michael Stipe about inner-city high school girls in a marching band, is another high-quality indie worth checking out (tragically, it's not yet available on video or DVD).

There is also at least one significant film currently in theaters that many moviegoers may not even know is actually kinda sorta a Black film. "The Count of Monte Cristo," an enjoyable if unremarkable historical thriller, is based on the classic novel written by Alexandre Dumas. Dumas (b.1802-d.1870) was prolific author, a revolutionary, a playwright, and a businessman. He ran a sort of "fiction factory," with numerous assistants and collaborators helping him to pump out book after book. He was the author of a number of novels that garnered worldwide fame, including "The Three Musketeers" and "The Man in the Iron Mask."

Dumas was also black. He was the son of a mulatto general who served under Napoleon and the grandson of a Haitian slave. Dumas faced racism in his day: one of the top actresses at the Comedie-Francaise once called out after he left a room "Open the windows. It smells of Negro!" At another time, when a man made a racist remark in Dumas' presence, Dumas proudly shot back: "Yes, of course, my father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather was an ape. You see, sir, my family began where yours left off."

But Dumas overcame it all to become one of France's best loved writers; his works transformed the novel, brought it to the masses and helped popularize fictionalized, romanticized history. Once, when he was accused of bastardizing history in his work, he replied "Yes, but look how beautiful the children are." He also helped develop the serial novel — to lure readers, his fiction was sometimes published in installments in newspapers.

Dumas asked if he would be remembered and he has been [EM] especially on the silver screen where, every year or so, somebody turns one of his books into a big budget movie. In just the last few months there was "The Musketeer," starring Catherine Deneuve and Mena Suvari, and the release of the latest version of "Monte Cristo," which has been remade numerous times. Dumas lived a full life — a fuller life than many of today's Black actors are able to portray on screen. The writer Victor Hugo once said of Dumas "The name Alexandre Dumas is more than French...It is universal." Even now, more than 130 years after his death, he stands as a testament to the life artists can have — if they're willing to fight for it. So I hope Halle gets an Oscar nod and Denzel too. But I hope they continue to battle for better, fuller rules — their success, hopefully, will help pave the way for others. As Dumas once said: All for one, one for all.