00:00Our next honoree has used her artistry and her platform, not for her own glory or to call
00:05attention to her personal achievements, but to challenge the misuse of power, to confront
00:10injustice, and to raise a righteous ruckus where stifling silence tries to settle in.
00:16You see, she understood something early in life that many require a lifetime to discover,
00:21that the gifts placed inside her were not random, and her courage was not incidental.
00:27They were assignments, a calling, and she has answered that calling boldly, relentlessly,
00:34and with extraordinary grace and love.
00:36I am speaking of the force of nature, the goddess, the woman that I have the profound blessing
00:42of calling my godmother, the legendary LaTanya Richardson Jackson.
00:56Now, when people speak about LaTanya, and y'all, I got a lot to say about this woman.
01:00She means a lot to me.
01:02People often begin with her extraordinary career, and rightly so.
01:05I mean, they talk about the electricity that she brings to every role, the way she is incapable
01:10of a false note, and fiercely excavates the truth hidden behind each character.
01:15And if you've ever seen her perform, you know you are in the presence of greatness.
01:20LaTanya is a three-time Tony Award-nominated actress, director, and producer, whose artistry
01:27spans decades.
01:28She most recently lit up Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, Purpose,
01:33earning Tony, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations for her performance, and
01:39receiving the Black Women on Broadway Audra McDonald Legacy Award.
01:45This woman is masterful at her craft, and she has given us countless unforgettable performances
01:50on stage and screen in productions like A Raisin in the Sun, To Kill a Mockingbird, yes,
01:56Show Me a Hero, as well as numerous beloved series and films including Grey's Anatomy and Luke
02:02Cage, Losing Isaiah, The Fighting Temptations, and too many to mention.
02:07And as an accomplished director, she made history as the first woman ever to direct an August
02:14Wilson play on Broadway with the Tony-nominated revival of The Piano Lesson, starring Samuel
02:20L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Brooks.
02:24But here's the truth.
02:26The awards, the nominations, the accolades, they are incredibly impressive.
02:31But they still only tell a very small part of this woman's story, because the real power
02:37of LaTanya Richardson-Jackson lives in how she moves through the world unapologetically
02:44with elegance, grace, and grit.
02:46You see, she's been on the front lines of change for decades.
02:50She does not announce her generosity.
02:52Her activism isn't performative.
02:54She simply shows up over and over with courage, conviction, and compassion.
03:00Now, I've watched her walk into rooms that were never designated for us in mind.
03:06And I've watched her take up space with dignity and certainty.
03:10I've watched her sit across from presidents and politicians.
03:13And when silence would have been easier, she boldly challenged them on their policies.
03:20I've watched her walk into communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina, not just pulling out her
03:25checkbook, which she did, but also pulling those people into her arms.
03:31I've witnessed her pick up the phone and cold call industry power players and demand they write
03:36a check for the nonprofit we had, ANSA, an organization combating HIV-AIDS and providing
03:42education, ongoing care, food, books, and clean water for impoverished and orphaned children.
03:47And I've seen her hold those children, look them in the eye, and treat them with a love
03:53and dignity that far too many people reserve only for the powerful.
03:57Now, I know this because I was there.
04:00I was there in those villages.
04:02I was there in those townships.
04:03Because LaTanya and Deborah Santana raised the money to bring me along when I was a broke
04:1020-year-old volunteer.
04:12And at the time, I was convinced that I was going to abandon acting and work in the nonprofit
04:17world because I felt like that was the only way for me to make a real difference.
04:20But watching LaTanya change that.
04:23She showed me that an artist can use our platform, our voice, and our resources to move the world
04:28forward.
04:29You see, LaTanya understands something about leadership.
04:33That leadership is not about how loudly you speak or how loudly you tweet.
04:40It's about how you consistently show up with your whole heart to serve others.
04:45And those of us who know her, we know she's a steady anchor for those she loves.
04:53Along with my mother, LaTanya, your handprint is all over my womanhood.
05:02You have ignited in me a resilience that has carried me through the roughest parts of this
05:08industry and the most challenging times in my life.
05:11You have repeatedly anchored a vital truth within my spirit, time and time again, that
05:17our value as black women does not decrease based on someone's inability to see our worth.
05:26She prepares us, not just for the opportunity, but for the deeper purpose, the higher calling.
05:32You see, her love is the kind of force that speaks truth in a way that shatters barriers,
05:38the kind that ignites a fire in you to be your best self.
05:41And whether it's hosting fundraisers or raising millions of dollars for effective nonprofits and
05:46emerging political stars or recently opening the LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel Jackson
05:52Performing Arts Center at Spelman College, her alma mater.
05:57Okay.
06:00LaTanya ensures that the next generation has more room to dream, more room to lead and more
06:06room to belong.
06:08Mama LaTanya, today we are here to celebrate you, not just for your considerable contribution
06:15to the stage or the cinematic canon, not just for the artistic history you've made, but
06:21for the lives you have shaped.
06:23You are a devoted wife to Sam, a loving mother to Zoe, but your love extends far beyond your
06:30own nuclear family.
06:31It lives on in the thousands of lives you have changed simply by being in your orbit.
06:36How very lucky we are to be alive in the time of LaTanya.
06:41Take a look.
06:45Legacy is not built in a moment.
06:48It is earned over a lifetime of devotion to craft.
06:52For decades, LaTanya Richardson Jackson has brought strength, depth, and unwavering dignity
06:59to every role she inhabits.
07:01With performances in films including Malcolm X and The Fighting Temptations.
07:06Across film and television, from Criminal Minds to Marvel's Luke Cage, her presence has remained
07:12steady, commanding, and unmistakable.
07:16But it is on the stage where her artistry resonates most deeply, where storytelling becomes
07:21sacred and every performance leaves a lasting imprint.
07:25Her acclaimed performance in To Kill a Mockingbird reaffirmed her place as one of theater's
07:30most respected and enduring voices.
07:33In 2022, she made history as the first Black woman to direct an August Wilson play on Broadway
07:41with The Piano Lesson, earning a Tony Award nomination, and expanding her legacy from performer
07:47to visionary leader.
07:49With grace, wisdom, and quiet power, she has mentored generations, shaping artists, audiences,
07:57and the future of American theater.
07:59I hope that at some point all of you young people will understand that there are some
08:05of us who have worked very, very hard.
08:08You have the goods.
08:09You were born with the goods, and you stood on the shoulders of the goods.
08:13Chase the thing that's placed inside your heart, and if you don't know what that is, then work
08:18to find out what that is and be about it.
08:22If I can leave you anything, then know that LaTanya said, get up and go to work.
08:28Her career is not only a body of work, it is a blueprint for excellence.
08:33What's important for me is that young people of color, especially African American young
08:41people, understand their worth and how important it is for them to stand on their own two feet
08:48and nurture the ideas that they are thinking about to bring them to fruition, for them to
08:55know that they are worth it, they are worthy, and that they stand toe-to-toe with anybody
09:00on any issue for anything.
09:03Through every role, every stage, and every story, LaTanya Richardson-Jackson reminds us
09:10that true legacy endures.
09:16Everyone, please welcome the 2026 Essence Black Women in Hollywood honoree, LaTanya Richardson-Jackson.
09:23I rise up, I rise like the day, I rise up, I rise unafraid, I rise up, and I do
09:34it a thousand
09:35times again, and I rise up, I like the waves, I rise up, it's why the day...
09:45Okay, we're going to move quickly.
09:49I did, I don't do the teleprompter, Tayana, cause see, that thing messes up, and, and plus,
09:57once I heard myself on that video, with the Essence video, I said, oh, you have talked enough.
10:05So I wrote it down on this piece of paper so I could be brilliant, brief, and be gone.
10:13I shall put on my Elisa Johnson glasses.
10:22My goddaughter journey, whom I share with Pauletta Washington.
10:28I am always warmed by the generosity of your spirit, and I am settled by the goodness of your smile.
10:37I praise God from whom our blessings flow. Watch how quick this is.
10:43Thank you. Thank you especially to founder and chairman of Sundial Media Group, Richelieu Dennis,
10:53Rochelle Dennis, and the entire Dennis family, and Mr. Kirk McDonald, for continuing the legacy of this
11:02phenomenal brand, Essence, and for convening, convening this celebratory occasion where
11:09all of these beautiful black women can be honored in fellowship.
11:15I want to also thank Payne Brown, the visionary Susan Taylor, and her extraordinary team,
11:22which includes Mickey Taylor, Sandra Martin, Dan Jan Deschabert, and Pamela Macklin,
11:29who saw what was fundamentally missing from a black girl in the world and giving it an identity, Essence.
11:42Like I said, I said enough in that interview. So thank you, Nathan. Is Nathan here? Nathan lately? He wrote
11:53that thing.
11:54But I quickly, I quickly want you to know, Danielle Brooks can attest to this, Danielle's organization honored me last
12:04year.
12:05I love all these babies. I told them last year that God put a light inside all of us.
12:13And that light is for you to shine, not just for yourself, but it might be shining for your sister
12:20or your brother or someone else in love that you need to stand next to, but shine regardless.
12:27You don't need to chase the shiny thing. You are the shiny thing.
12:35I want all of you to know that these black women in this room are the beacons on a thousand
12:44hills.
12:45And all you have to do is see them because they are shining right.
12:50I was giving the curse effing fucking for you.
12:56So listen, work hard. I can't, I can't reiterate that enough. You have to work hard.
13:05I believe in wellness, but you also have to work very hard because we have worked very hard.
13:11Work to know your business and then learn who and what.
13:18But then be bold enough to make space for the unimaginable and then be brave enough to embrace it
13:28when it appears.
13:31Learn the language. See, this is going, this is really going to sound deep, but think about it.
13:36Learn the language of the invisible so that your presence always speaks.
13:47Just show up.
13:51Listen, I am so very proud to stand with that precious Chase Infinity with my baby girl,
14:02Kerry Washington. How long? She was such a baby girl.
14:05Kerry Washington. Zinzi Kugler. And the incredible, radical women of sinners today.
14:23I accept this honor and I love you all. Wake up. Stay woke.
14:31Because we who believe in freedom will not rest until it comes. Okay.
14:39One, one last thing. I would be, I know I wanted to end with that, but I would be remiss.
14:47I would be remiss if I didn't recognize a black woman in Los Angeles who happens to be the mayor
14:54of
14:55this city. Mayor Karen Bass. We love you, Karen. Thank you. Thank you all. I'm gone.
