Berry has received Emmy and Golden Globe awards , and was awarded the Academy Award in 2002 for her role in Monster 's Ball . She is the only African American woman to have won the award for Best Actress in history . Berry received an Emmy , Golden Globe , SAG , and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was also nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster 's Ball , becoming the first and , as of 2011 , only woman of African American descent to have won the award for Best Actress .