00:00Cynthia, it is my distinct honor to present you with the 2025 Essence Black Women in Hollywood Cultural Icon Award.
00:30Oh, my goodness. I didn't know I was going to feel this emotional.
00:48This year has been, oh, first of all, thank you, Kiki.
01:07Not just for today, not just for here and now, but for the many times you have celebrated,
01:14even when it's meant to be your moment, it's a very selfless thing to do.
01:21And when you did that at the NAACP Awards, that was a particular day.
01:26I was just so exhausted and that really lifted me.
01:29So I want to say thank you for that. It was a really, really meaningful thing to do.
01:37This year has been a deluge of gifts and a rainfall of love.
01:41And I've been rendered speechless by it all.
01:45And I could stand here and revel in it all, but that's just the least of it.
01:49And what I've learned was actually meant, I was actually meant to be used for is actually the crux of the whole thing, not just the gifts.
02:00So I start here.
02:02On November the 25th, 2024, three days after Wicked Head graced the cinema screens worldwide,
02:10Essence posted these words.
02:11In a world that often tries to define us by its narrow lenses, you have soared.
02:19Elphaba's journey as a woman seen as different and cast aside for the very thing that makes her unique,
02:25speaks to the heart of every black woman who has ever been judged and misunderstood and yet still learned that her power was her gift all along.
02:35So I thought that I, Cynthia, would speak to your hearts.
02:41I wanted to take this opportunity as more than an opportunity to accept this beautiful award and honor.
02:49And I wanted to use it as a way to affirm you all.
02:54You weren't insane when you were dreaming of being a superhero.
03:01You weren't asking too much when you wanted to be seen for the lead.
03:06When you were little and you believed you could fly, that wasn't a fairy tale.
03:11When you look at the mirror and the thought crosses your mind, if only for a fleeting moment that you might be in possession of powerful magic, entertain that thought.
03:24Do not dismiss it.
03:27Nourish it.
03:29Because it's real.
03:30When you walk into a room and people stare, my darlings, you have an audience now.
03:43Give them what they came for.
03:54Take the space.
03:56It's yours for the taking.
03:58You belong there.
04:02I know that some of us in this room are still waiting for the permission to be.
04:08To own every facet of what makes us, us.
04:14Let me be the one to say, be.
04:18Stop hiding.
04:21The thing I have learned in this wonderful moment in my life is that if you do it your way, no one can take it from you.
04:28We get so afraid of what love we might lose if we choose to simply show up as ourselves, but the truth is any love you lose because of that was never yours to have in the first place.
04:46And I personally want love that is true and steadfast and accepting and celebratory and long-lasting and encouraging and mine.
05:01It's not easy to believe that any dream you have is possible, but if you happen to be sat listening to a bald-headed black Brit born in South London to a single mom.
05:15If you happen to be sat listening to a 30-something-year-old proud old black girl with a gap in her smile, a wide nose and high cheekbones, then you happen to be listening to a woman whose dreams materialized in real time before your very eyes.
05:37I got to fly, and now the skies are waiting for you too.
05:43So believe me when I say this last thing, I hope and pray that those dreams you keep tucked away rise to the surface.
06:04I hope that the dreams you dare to dream really do come true.
06:08It is an honor to share this moment with three exquisite human beings.
06:16Tiana, Ramla, Miss Marla, you are exemplary.
06:23And the world sees something that I don't see.
06:28I see something else.
06:30Ramla, I see the funny, insanely obsessive musical theater kid in you.
06:38That nobody knows exists, but I do.
06:41And Tiana, that soft spirit that you don't get to share all the time because you're making sure that everyone's okay.
06:50The bravery it takes to take on a role like you did in 2001, when you haven't done something like that before, is a big, massive step towards what I'm so excited to see of you.
07:06There's so much more, and Oscar's waiting for you, my sweet.
07:09I kept trying to think about what else I might say, but I really just wanted to be here to celebrate everyone who's in this room because I know how hard it is to get up in the morning when you think the world's against you.
07:27And even when the lights are sparkling and the fashion is on and the makeup is done, there are days when you think, how am I going to do this?
07:37But you do, and I commend you for it because there are days when no one commends us for it.
07:47So let today be the day that Cynthia Erivo said, you're amazing.
07:52Don't let anyone tell you that you're anything less than that, and if they do, don't listen.
08:08Not worth your time.
08:11You have so much more to do than listen to that nonsense.
08:15I love you, and thank you.
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