Usually it’s the performances that make the BET Awards the most talked about event on #BlackTwitter. But this year it was Jesse Williams’ speech that stole the show.
In recent years Jesse Williams has become known more for his socio-political views than his acting skills. That will probably remain the case in the coming days and people continue to feast on and digest the powerful words in his acceptance speech for the Humanitarian of the Year award at the 2016 BET Awards.
Williams opened the speech by thanking his family, but after that he took his time to thank who he called the people that were truly deserving of the award; civil rights attorneys, activists, teachers, community leaders, etc.
He would go on to encourage everybody in the audience who “getting money” to be more cognizant about what it is they are really chasing and attaining. Williams compared the urge to be rich and sponsored by companies who want to put their brands on people’s backs to the brands that plantation owners used to put on the backs of their slaves.
Williams’ continued to drop gems calling the “here after” a hustle and demanding freedom now. He dropped the mic at the end when he insisted that just because Black people are magical, does not mean they are not real.
Watch the Jesse Williams BET Awards speech below and if you want more of what he has to say, follow him on Tumblr and Twitter.
