Director Lee Daniels (Precious) is not the first African-American to gain an Oscar nomination; that honor goes to John Singleton (Boys in the Hood). He’s also not the first gay director to grasp the honor either; in fact, Gus van Sant has been nominated twice (Good Will Hunting, Milk). And even though Daniels’ achievement will no doubt be overshadowed by the divorcees (James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow), the Academy’s nomination of the first gay African-American is both significant and well deserved.

In many ways, Lee Daniels upbringing is similar to that of his fledgling character Precious Jones. Daniels grew up in inner-city Philadelphia during the riotous sixties and seventies. At age 13, Daniels’ father, a police officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty, leaving his mother Clara Daniels to take care of Lee and his four siblings.

Daniels attended college at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, though he eventually dropped out to pursue a career in film, just as his sister had done. Arriving in Los Angeles during the AIDS crisis of the eighties, Daniels found work at a nursing agency. Daniels worked his way up to owning the company, garnering his first million (yes, million) at age 21.

After developing his own fortune, Daniels started his own talent agency known as Lee Daniels Entertainment in New York City. The agency sought to expand roles for African-Americans, which included the obscure little known Oscar winner Morgan Freeman. Over time Daniels became a passionate advocate for stronger African-American representation in film, and began to delve into production himself, culminating in 2001’s Monster’s Ball, making Daniels the first sole African-American producer of an Oscar-earning film.

Following his success as a producer, Daniels began directing films with a punch, mostly focusing on crime, race, redemption, and sexuality. 2004’s The Woodsman starred Kevin Bacon as a child molester adjusting to life outside of prison, set in Daniels’ own Philadelphia. 2005’s Shadowboxer starred Oscar winners Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. as assassins who happen to be both stepmother/stepson and lovers. 2008’s Tennessee starred Mariah Carey as an aspiring singer who hitches a ride with brothers on a road trip.

Quite apparently, Daniels is known as a director that never shies away from difficult or uncomfortable subjects, so it is no surprise that he decided to adapt Sapphire’s poetic novel Push into his multi-Oscar nominated blockbuster Precious. Precious itself turns on a head everything we know about the urban drama and in many ways, Daniels is in a modern cinematic debate with his contemporaries Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing) and John Singleton.

He evolved the urban drama from cinema marred in violence, sex, and masculinity, into a genre that can be feasibly gendered feminine. The character Precious Jones is not a character trapped in gang violence or a life of crime, unlike the protagonists in Do the Right Thing or Boys in the Hood (which are both brilliant films in their own right), rather Precious is a pacifist and a victim of meaningless violence. In Precious, Daniels nurtured a protagonist that does not tackle the barriers of racism or violence, but instead battles for her own liberation, a battle that risks not only her life, but the life of her children.

In this film everything Daniels holds dear seems to come together, from his belief in the power of women, (no doubt inspired by his mother, sisters, and daughter), to the hardships of HIV/AIDS he experienced first hand in LA, to the deep admiration he has for black actors (apparent in the brilliant performances of Mo’Nique, Gabourey Sidibe, and Paula Patton). The accepting and loving lesbian relationship in Precious even seems to mirror Daniels own life, as Daniels raises his brother’s children alongside his partner casting director Billy Hopkins.

Daniels nomination by the Academy represents a director in his prime, being recognized for a film that comprises so much of his life and identity. I hope that Daniels’ film and nomination will inspire queer youth of color to stand up and create art that mirrors their lives and their struggles. I know that I have been inspired to do the same.