00:00Thank you to The Hollywood Reporter for inviting me to share this day with you, and congratulations
00:05to the fascinating, extraordinary women being honored for your leadership and your engagement.
00:12Storytelling holds an extraordinary power, one that shapes not simply our thoughts but
00:17our vision.
00:18A good narrative can call people to action, change lives, and set the course for our futures.
00:24I learned the power of good storytelling from a young age.
00:27You see, my parents worked hard, but still struggled to make ends meet.
00:32My mother referred to us as the genteel poor.
00:34We had no money, but we watched PBS and we read books.
00:40As a librarian, she showed us how to dream through the pages of novels, places we would
00:45never see.
00:46My dad was a shipyard worker.
00:47He left home every morning before daybreak.
00:50But by the end of the week, he never failed to tuck us in on Friday nights with these never
00:56-ending
00:56bedtime stories that rivaled the best sagas ever penned by Octavia Butler or Charlotte Bronte.
01:03Mom would sign us up as volunteers so we could go and see plays for free.
01:08And as a family, we would watch miniseries on TV or venture to a matinee to see tall tales
01:14come to life.
01:15That's why being in this room is amazing.
01:18Because beyond our home, my parents made sure that we volunteered, despite us pointing out
01:23to them that we were also poor.
01:26They would remind us that no matter how little we had, there was someone with less, and our
01:31job was to serve that person.
01:33We held the hands of the homeless, and we learned to ask about their biographies.
01:38We would tend to the elderly in nursing homes and learn to sit and listen to their recollections
01:44and hear their loneliness.
01:47When my parents both became United Methodist ministers, I saw how they used the power of
01:51stories and the prose of action to weave the possibility of a better world for those we
01:57served.
01:58I have carried this love of storytelling for me in every form, every day.
02:04As a romantic suspense writer as Selina Montgomery, I crafted characters with plotlines where women
02:13who looked like me did things few black women ever dreamed of, ethnobotanists saving small
02:18villages and falling in love with handsome, flawed, leading men who learned to do as they
02:22were told.
02:25As an attorney, I wove complex explanations for my clients' tax issues and gave the IRS a
02:31reason to believe.
02:35But most importantly, from my political and civic work, from state legislator to candidate for
02:40governor of Georgia, my work was rooted in the knowledge that the stories of people of
02:46color, of the marginalized, of the disadvantaged, were too often footnotes in our stories, not
02:52chapters.
02:53Instead of ignoring them, our campaign centered these communities, and it worked.
02:59Because our mission was simple.
03:01For every person to feel in their gut that they were seen and heard and valued.
03:07That their stories, too, carry power and meaning, purpose and grace.
03:13And this is the power that you all possess as leaders here in Hollywood.
03:18With a word, with a scene, with a script, you become advocates for the voiceless.
03:24You become the ciphers that tell the full truth of who we are as a society.
03:29And you are the oracles of our current age, defining our challenges, calling us all to action through
03:35your work.
03:36And as women, you have leveraged your space to highlight our complexity, our strength,
03:42our capacity for greatness, and our capacity for redemption.
03:48When I ran for governor, I was told that to be successful, I had to change my look, hide
03:53all of my past mistakes, and use smaller words.
03:57I'm sure far too many women in this room can relate, being told that who we are is not
04:02enough to be what we imagine.
04:05But my experience of running for governor as a sturdy black woman with natural hair in
04:09my mother's gap, doing so reminded me of the power of authenticity and truth-telling, even
04:24when it's painful, embarrassing, and difficult.
04:29Because when we are not honest about who we are, we give others permission to lie to us.
04:35Instead, we must tell our truths on screen, in boardrooms and behind the scenes.
04:41We must be honest about the challenges that exist for women, particularly women of color
04:46in this industry, in order to find the solutions that will empower others.
04:50But I know that you can inspire a nation to accept that our stories are valid no matter how
04:55imperfect they may be.
04:57To uplift the voices of those who wait in the shadows to hear someone whisper their name.
05:02To demand action on behalf of all of us.
05:06This women of entertainment, powerful women, this is our power.
05:12This is our responsibility.
05:15And I tell you today with no hesitation, this is our moment.
05:21So congratulations and let's get it done.
05:23Thank you so much.
05:25Thank you so much.
05:31You
Comments