The room was filled with Black icons, movers and shakers from every part of the industry and also included beautiful moments from the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Viola Davis and a redemptive moment of community for actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo.
While accepting the Chairman’s award, Viola Davis delivered an empowered speech about going after your dreams and leaving no stone unturned in the mission to find your true purpose.
“I like this quote, that the definition of hell is the last day on earth, the person you became meets the person you could’ve become, “Davis said. “I say that about our nation, I say that about myself; that there is no becoming until you face the depth and the darkness of your own soul. There is no becoming without healing and without a radical acceptance of one’s truth. I know that about myself growing up in poverty.”
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She continued,
“Little chocolate girl with thick lips and wide nose in Rhode Island in 1965. I didn’t see hope. I didn’t see dreams. I just wanted to be somebody. I wanted success because I thought it was significance. And no one can describe the journey of going from the little chocolate girl searching for hope, searching for God, and the girl living a transcendent life.
That is a hero’s journey, and we have only to follow the thread of a hero’s path. And where we had thought we would find an abomination, we shall find a God. And where we thought that we could slay the other, we will slay ourselves. And where we had thought to journey outwards, we shall come to the center of our own existence.”
Inspiration was in the room on the evening as Samuel L. Jackson was tasked with paying tribute to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson. Donned in traditional African garb, the legendary actor shared his personal connection to the late civil rights activist and used the latter’s own words to send an important message of perseverance.
“We all know the story of Jesse Jackson,” Jackson began. “Born to an 18-year-old unwed mother in Greenville, South Carolina. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, getting out on a path that led him to the top of the mountain. For over half a century — which is a long damn time to be on the front lines — he advocated for the poor, the disenfranchised, for those who needed work. And he found jobs for our community in every endeavor, including entertainment.”
He continued,
“All of us, in some degree or another, have spoken out, marched, protested… inspired by a man who now, I’m sure, resides with the good Lord in heaven. We will continue his mission. We will carry the torch he lit and keep hope alive. And we will not be erased from this country’s history because we are somebody.”
Colman Domingo also took time to speak to those who pave the way for any of us to reach success. He paid tribute to his family and mentors who poured into him as he worked to fulfill his dreams.
“You get here with dreams and belief from your mother who did days work and was always going back to school, showing you what having a good education means,” he said. “You get here by having a stepfather named Clarence Boles, who came along when I was about 8 years old and married my mom. He was a blue collar worker, sanding hardwood floors, he fired me from my summer job with him.”
He continued,
“He said ‘son, come here, this is your last summer doing this, I don’t want you doing this backbreaking work. I want you to work with your mind. He held out his hands and they had calluses on them and he said ‘I don’t want that for you, I want you to have soft hands and when you go far, I want you to have something that you believe in and do good things in the world’. And I carry that message with me.”
The biggest award on the evening went to Sinners star Michael B. Jordan as Entertainer of the Year, who closed the night with simple words that held big weight.
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