00:00.
00:26Well, good afternoon and welcome to Essence Black Women in Hollywood.
00:37Now, I think you might have heard that I've recently been through a breakup.
00:43But not with my husband, not with my husband, because today actually is our anniversary.
00:47It's our wedding anniversary.
00:50We have been married, I probably shouldn't age myself, for 28 years.
00:54We've been together for 32 years, and our daughter is 30.
00:59You do the math on when the wedding happened versus the children.
01:06And, you know, I love actually being here on my anniversary because we get to enjoy beautiful Los Angeles.
01:13I want to start by acknowledging the pain that Los Angeles has suffered, the fires, particularly in Altadena, which I know has so many of our hearts.
01:23But all throughout Los Angeles, I just want to acknowledge that.
01:26All that's happened here and all the pain people have gone through and all the loss.
01:31And I just wanted to say that that is seen.
01:34And while it may not be at the top of the news cycle every night anymore, it is still at the top of my heart and so many people's hearts.
01:41So I wanted to start by saying that.
01:42And, you know, it being my wedding anniversary is just a reminder that when we, particularly as black women, in media, whether it is in the news media or whether it is in Hollywood, in any of the spaces that we occupy, whether it is in business, in the C-suites, there is such a tendency to put us in a box.
02:04To say that we are just one thing, such that if that one thing goes away, we have lost everything.
02:10But none of us are just one thing.
02:12As I've mentioned, I am a wife.
02:14I am a mother.
02:15But also, I am not just a news broadcaster.
02:19I am an author.
02:20But I'm also a filmmaker.
02:22I'm working on a documentary film about Medgar Evers right now.
02:25I'm working on that as we speak.
02:27I'd like to think of myself as an historical thinker, someone who cares about this country, who cares about democracy.
02:33We are not one thing.
02:35Those of you who are in this room who are actors are also writers, are also producers, are also thinkers and thought leaders.
02:42We are many things.
02:43So you can't take one thing away from us and say that you have taken all from us because we are so multidimensional.
02:50And that's why it feels so warm and powerful and important to be in this room at this time.
02:59Because we, as black women, are living at a time of theft.
03:05A time when our history is at risk of being stolen away and hidden.
03:14And a time when our political power, come on 92%, is being threatened.
03:22And our opportunity to participate in this democracy is being threatened.
03:26A time when we are losing the service, potentially, of federal workers who are disproportionately us.
03:34In the service that we disproportionately give.
03:38When those of us who are in the United States military are being told that our history cannot be taught in military academies.
03:45That our photos cannot be shown on their websites.
03:48Because that is DEI, as if diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a great thing that is a gift to the corporations and to the entities that we serve.
03:58It is not a present to us, it's a present to them.
04:01Because we bring our diversity, which allows the products that they sell to actually move.
04:07Because this country is becoming more diverse whether people like it or not.
04:11The equity is important because we come in knowing we have to be better, more educated, stronger, more prepared than anyone else when we walk into a room.
04:21And so we are.
04:22And so in each of the spaces that we exist, we tend to be the best.
04:27And that equity is not just equity for us, it's equity for these companies and organizations that we serve.
04:33It makes their organizations better.
04:36And inclusion is just reality.
04:37There's nothing you can do to reverse the tie that is making this a more diverse country.
04:42The only thing that people can do is to try to make it not a multiracial democracy.
04:47And you know what?
04:48There's one group of Americans that have never been willing to allow that.
04:52And that is African Americans.
04:53Who have struggled through loss and lack and enslavement and Jim Crow to say we believe more than anyone in this country in the rights, the freedoms, and the Constitution that did not include us.
05:04So on this day, I am joyful.
05:07I am joyful.
05:08I am joyful.
05:09I am joyful.
05:10I am joyful.
05:11I am joyful.
05:12I am joyful.
05:13I am joyful.
05:14I am joyful.
05:15I am joyful.
05:16I am joyful.
05:17I am joyful.
05:18I am joyful.
05:19I am joyful.
05:20I am joyful.
05:21I am joyful.
05:22I am joyful.
05:23I am joyful.
05:24I am joyful.
05:25I am joyful.
05:26I am joyful.
05:27I am joyful.
05:28I am joyful.
05:29I am joyful.
05:30I am joyful.
05:31I am joyful.
05:32I am joyful.
05:33I am joyful.
05:34I am joyful.
Comments