Kerry Washington Accepts the Equity in Entertainment Award | Women in Entertainment 2023 - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

Kerry Washington accepts the Equity in Entertainment Award at The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual Women in Entertainment gala.

Transcript

00:00 And to Beyonce.

00:02 (audience laughing)

00:03 Yes!

00:04 Oh my God, thank you Ariana for that beautiful introduction.

00:09 My God, what can't you do?

00:11 (audience laughing)

00:14 Thank you to the Hollywood Reporter

00:17 for this extraordinary honor,

00:19 and especially to the co-editors-in-chief,

00:21 Nikesa Mambimudin and Mayor Roshan.

00:26 Thank you to my mom and my Aunt Daph,

00:29 who are here this morning.

00:31 (audience applauding)

00:33 My mother and my other mother.

00:34 And to my team, so many of you are here,

00:38 Gretchen, we, Tracy, Angela, Katie,

00:42 Michelle, Kath, Pilar, Nicole, Greg.

00:45 I would not be up here without your support

00:49 and your commitment and your courage.

00:51 Okay.

00:56 And congratulations to all of the recipients,

01:01 the scholarship recipients, today's honorees and awardees,

01:05 the participants in the mentorship program.

01:07 I love this event.

01:09 Every year, I love being in this room filled with women

01:14 and a few of our allies, like Will.

01:18 (audience laughing)

01:19 Thank you to all of the evolved men in the room.

01:22 Usually, when I come here, I really love to,

01:25 you know, like just like hang out and kiki

01:28 and network a little, see some friends

01:31 and listen and get inspired.

01:34 But it occurred to me like a week ago

01:36 that I guess this year, I'm supposed to be

01:40 one of the people doing the talking, not the listening.

01:43 So I went back to my email because I was like,

01:46 what is this award for?

01:47 And I reread it.

01:51 Thank you, publicist.

01:52 Thank you, Katie, Michelle, for sending me that.

01:54 And it said equity and entertainment.

01:56 And so like my fellow nerdy friend, Ariana,

01:59 I looked up like, what is equity?

02:02 What is it?

02:03 So I have three kids.

02:06 They range in age from seven to 18.

02:08 But last year, my nine-year-old, Gracie,

02:11 she was in third grade, and they were talking about equity.

02:15 In fact, the whole class was talking about the difference

02:18 between equity and equality and justice.

02:23 When my husband and I went in for parent-teacher conferences,

02:25 there were all these drawings hanging on the wall

02:27 done by the students to help explain exactly

02:29 what the differences are, equity, equality, justice.

02:32 It really helped to make the distinction clear.

02:34 So it made me think a lot.

02:36 So I'm gonna try to paint a similar picture for you today.

02:39 But I really want you to be able to see this.

02:41 So if you don't mind indulging me,

02:42 I'm gonna ask each of you to close your eyes

02:44 for just a moment.

02:45 I want you to try to see this in your mind.

02:49 Picture a wooden fence.

02:53 It's about four feet tall.

02:54 And on the other side of that fence

02:56 is a beautiful orchard filled with apple trees.

03:00 Now picture three kids, all about the same height,

03:03 and they're standing on this side of the fence with us,

03:05 and they're trying, they're struggling

03:07 to get a better view of what's on the other side

03:10 of the fence.

03:11 Now remember, the fence is four feet high from ground level.

03:15 But the problem is the ground on this side of the fence

03:18 is uneven.

03:20 It slopes down along the fence

03:22 so that even though the kids are the same size,

03:24 only one of them can see over it.

03:27 The next kid is about one foot

03:30 from being able to see over the fence.

03:31 And the third kid is kind of in a ditch,

03:34 about two feet below the top of the fence.

03:37 So the two kids who are not on level ground,

03:40 they're like jumping and bouncing

03:42 and standing on their tippy toes

03:44 'cause they really wanna see over the fence.

03:46 You can open your eyes.

03:48 So first let's talk about equality.

03:52 When we talk about equality,

03:53 what we usually mean, as Ariana said,

03:55 is that everybody should get the exact same thing

03:57 all the time, same, same, same,

03:58 same resources, same opportunities.

04:00 So in the story of these three kids,

04:02 that means that maybe somebody comes along with a box

04:04 that's about one foot high, right?

04:06 Three boxes.

04:06 They give the exact same box to all three kids.

04:10 Is it helpful?

04:12 You tell me.

04:13 Maybe you need to close your eyes again.

04:15 The kid who could already see over the fence

04:17 is now towering over the fence

04:20 and is like, huh, maybe I should just jump this fence,

04:23 climb inside the orchard and get some apples.

04:26 The second kid can now just barely see into the orchard

04:30 and is amazed.

04:32 She's trying to make sense of it.

04:33 She's wrapping her head around the vast landscape

04:36 of apple trees that she wasn't able to see before.

04:40 And the third kid, well, she still can't see over the fence.

04:44 The problem is that that ditch,

04:47 it's deeper than one box can fix.

04:51 So everyone has gotten the same resources, equal assistance,

04:54 but not all three kids are gonna go home with apples.

04:57 Not unless they work together

04:58 and maybe not unless we step in and acknowledge

05:00 that they each need a different level of support,

05:03 a different kind of assistance.

05:05 That's the challenge with equality.

05:07 Giving the same thing to different people

05:09 who are at different starting points

05:10 doesn't allow everyone the same opportunity to succeed.

05:14 Does that mean we shouldn't give?

05:15 Of course not.

05:17 We have to give.

05:17 What's happening here today in terms of giving

05:19 is extraordinary.

05:20 I'm so moved year after year

05:23 by the generosity in this room.

05:24 So many of you offering your time

05:26 and your talent and your treasure.

05:29 But now let's talk about equity.

05:32 From a social science, civic justice perspective,

05:35 equity, the equity model,

05:37 is not about giving every person the same box.

05:40 Equity is about taking the time and paying attention

05:43 to who needs what kind of box

05:45 and how many boxes and how and maybe why.

05:49 It's not a simple formula that can be cut and pasted

05:52 from person to person.

05:53 Equity requires presence and awareness

05:58 and patience and vulnerability and listening.

06:03 Equity is not simple

06:06 and it's not easy to get it right all the time.

06:08 It's nuanced.

06:10 It can be complicated.

06:12 Sometimes it's scary

06:14 because equity asks us to pause and to see each other,

06:19 to consider each other's unique circumstances

06:22 because let's be clear,

06:23 this is not a level playing field.

06:26 We are not in real life on equal ground.

06:30 Many of us, because of our gender,

06:33 because of our race, our socioeconomic reality,

06:36 our zip code, our sexuality, our religion,

06:38 our physical ability, our personal traumas,

06:41 many of us are born in a ditch,

06:44 a deep ditch that has been carved out

06:46 by systems of inequity.

06:48 And don't get me wrong,

06:49 I know who we are.

06:50 We are scrappy.

06:51 We know how to climb.

06:53 We jump.

06:53 We reach.

06:54 But we also need boxes.

06:56 We might still need some of those boxes.

06:59 At times, my box came in the form of a mentor

07:03 or a scholarship or a therapist or a manager

07:08 or maybe even a movie I watched

07:11 or a novel that I read that helped me to see over the fence

07:14 and beyond the limitations of these marginalizing systems.

07:19 I needed that support.

07:20 I needed it to see into that orchard

07:23 and climb over that fence and eat.

07:26 No matter what neighborhood we were born into

07:28 or how much money our family has

07:30 or how we identify or what we believe,

07:32 we deserve our apples.

07:35 We deserve entry into the orchard.

07:37 (audience applauding)

07:38 That's what equity looks like.

07:42 But listen, we have a long way to get there.

07:46 So what does this mean for entertainment?

07:48 Well, I don't think we can unlock equity

07:51 until we're able to really see each other

07:53 and understand who we are

07:54 and where we come from and what we need.

07:56 We don't cultivate equity without making space

07:59 for each other's truths.

08:01 When stories from all different people

08:03 and backgrounds are told

08:04 and people see their story reflected in media

08:07 and in culture,

08:08 that starts to weave a thread where everyone is included.

08:11 That's the path to equity.

08:13 That's why centering stories about marginalized people

08:16 is so important.

08:18 This is why heroes have to look like all of us.

08:22 Our stories, our movies, our music,

08:25 art teaches us to stop and slow down

08:27 and really see ourselves and see each other.

08:31 I'm being given this honor today

08:33 for amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities.

08:37 I guess in a way for using storytelling

08:39 and narrative entertainment as a box

08:42 that uplifts characters and communities

08:44 to get them to get us over the fence and into the orchard.

08:49 At "Simpson Street" every day,

08:51 we're asking people to step into these stories with us

08:54 and consider each other's deeper humanity

08:56 with projects like "Confirmation" and "American Son"

08:59 and "Little Fires Everywhere"

09:00 and God bless Norman Lear live in front of a studio audience

09:03 and "Unprisoned" and "Reasonable Doubt."

09:06 We're asking people to pause and reconsider assumptions.

09:10 The assumptions we make about history and identity

09:13 and family and power and the criminal justice system

09:17 and feminism and abortion rights and immigration.

09:20 But we aren't trafficking in these themes

09:24 because we wanna be overtly political

09:26 or singularly focused on equity.

09:29 We just believe that stories about everybody

09:32 and about the complicated truths of our time

09:35 are worth telling.

09:36 So we tell them with a lot of laughter and drama

09:40 and danger and sex appeal and beauty

09:45 and cliffhangers galore.

09:48 Whether it's the stories we're telling

09:50 or the advocacy work that we do

09:52 around civic engagement and voting justice

09:54 at my company Across Verticals,

09:56 we believe in agency,

09:58 in developing people's own power to transform their lives

10:02 and encouraging people to see themselves

10:04 as the lead character in the story of their lives.

10:08 But I know that that's not always easy.

10:11 I wrote my memoir, "Thicker Than Water,"

10:13 partly because I realized that I wasn't living my life

10:18 as the protagonist of my story.

10:21 But if you know anything about the book,

10:23 then you know that I also struggled

10:25 with what it meant to center myself

10:27 on my own hero's journey

10:28 while still honoring the full humanity of my parents.

10:32 Ironically, in the end,

10:34 my parents are the heroes of my memoir.

10:37 But I think that's so much of what the battle for equity

10:42 is going to require.

10:44 That we, as we step into the center of our lives

10:48 and of our stories, as women, as people of color,

10:52 as members of the LGBTQ+ community,

10:55 as people with differently abled bodies

10:57 from marginalized religions,

10:59 that we then also be willing to uplift others

11:04 and to be supporting characters in their stories

11:08 so that they can be the lead characters

11:10 in their own lives too.

11:12 And I think--

11:14 (audience applauding)

11:17 When I stand up here and look at you guys,

11:19 I think that's what today is about, right?

11:21 It's about stepping into our power

11:23 and then sharing it with each other.

11:26 It is so beautiful to be here

11:29 and to feel that, that sense of community and generosity.

11:32 And I think that's how we get to that third word.

11:35 I think that's how we get to justice.

11:37 Because justice isn't about giving everybody

11:39 the exact same box,

11:41 and it's not even about giving out the right kind of boxes

11:44 to exactly who needs them

11:45 so that everybody can get over the fence.

11:47 Justice is about leveling the ground

11:51 and ripping the fucking fence down.

11:54 (audience applauding)

11:56 Justice is about dismantling the systems

12:00 that prevent us from getting

12:02 to the other side of our greatness.

12:05 And we have to do that together.

12:08 Mornings like this are so special

12:09 because they are a glorious glimpse

12:11 into what that might feel like one day.

12:14 So thank you all for being here.

12:16 Thank you for this honor.

12:17 I'm gonna do everything I can to try to live up to it.

12:20 And I pray that all year long,

12:23 we continue to celebrate one another

12:24 and support each other and lift each other up

12:27 as we work together toward a world with more equity

12:30 and more equality and more justice and apples for all.

12:35 (audience applauding)

12:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Kerry Washington Accepts the Equity in Entertainment Award | Women in Entertainment 2023

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