00:00Hey, you guys, thank you so, so much.
00:05I am so happy to be here to present my friend Ramala
00:10with a much-deserved Visionary Award.
00:14I was just so honored when she texted me,
00:17hey, girl, Keri can't present me anymore, can you?
00:22And so,
00:23here I am, a proud, humble second choice
00:29to Keri Washington.
00:34I really love Ramala with all of my heart.
00:39I mean that.
00:40This is gonna sound really weird,
00:42but I've been a fan of Ramala since I was 12.
00:45I was in middle school, seventh grade, to be exact.
00:48And so I would see Ramala and her beautiful black girlfriends
00:51walking around on campus,
00:53and they were always clicked up,
00:55rocking the finest of 90s gear.
00:57I'm talking Guess, Tommy, Nautica,
01:01just L.A. black girls.
01:04And they were just so cool to me,
01:07and I imagined that I'd grow up to have a clique of girlfriends
01:11just like them,
01:12and maybe I'd even be their friend,
01:14like a 12-year-old, kicking it with teenagers.
01:16That would be crazy.
01:17Eventually, my mom took me out of Brentwood
01:22because, in her words, it was too far and too white,
01:25and then overcorrected by sending me to high school in Compton.
01:28But luckily,
01:29luckily, I was reconnected by chance
01:34to the beautiful black girl Brentwood clique
01:36about 15 years later,
01:38and I was so excited to be reacquainted with them,
01:42even though they did not know me
01:43or even remember me at all.
01:46They welcomed me with open arms.
01:48And as I was trying to break into the industry myself
01:51via my web series,
01:52I was so impressed by how Ramala was able to climb the ranks
01:55from interning and PA-ing
01:57to becoming a writer and producer
01:58on one of the most game-changingly inspirational shows,
02:02Scandal.
02:02And now, having created her own game-changing,
02:07incredible show,
02:09which is multifaceted, unapologetically black,
02:13she is still every bit as generous
02:15with that knowledge and encouragement,
02:16also proudly rooted in her culture.
02:19Her love for and support of black women is undeniable,
02:23and so is her determination to showcase us in our totality.
02:26Congratulations on your award.
02:28It's been a pleasure to watch you win,
02:30and I can't wait to see what other brilliance
02:32you'll bless us with
02:33during what I know will be a long reign of a career.
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