WATCH: Cynthia Erivo gives her Vanguard Award acceptance speech at the 2025 ESSENCE BWIH

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Watch as the multi-talented Cynthia Erivo delivers an emotional and inspiring acceptance speech after receiving the Vanguard Award at the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood celebration! Honored for her groundbreaking achievements in film, music, and theater, Cynthia shares her journey, the importance of representation, and a heartfelt message to aspiring artists.

Transcript

00:00Cynthia, it is my distinct honor to present you with the 2025 Essence Black Women in Hollywood

00:10Cultural Icon Award.

00:40Oh my goodness, I didn't know I was going to feel this emotional.

01:01This year has been, first of all, thank you Kiki.

01:08Not just for today, not just for here and now, but for the many times you have celebrated,

01:15even when it's meant to be your moment, it's a very selfless thing to do.

01:22And when you did that at the NAACP Awards, that was a particular day, I was just so exhausted

01:28and that really lifted me, so I want to say thank you for that.

01:30It was a really, really meaningful thing to do.

01:37This year has been a deluge of gifts and a rainfall of love, and I've been rendered

01:43speechless by it all, and could stand here and revel in it all, but that's just the least

01:49of it.

01:50And what I have learned was actually meant, I was actually meant to be used for is actually

01:55the crux of the whole thing, not just the gifts.

02:00So I'll start here.

02:03On November the 25th, 2024, three days after Wicked Head graced the cinema screens worldwide,

02:10Essence posted these words, in a world that often tries to define us by its narrow lenses,

02:17you have soared.

02:19Alphabet's journey as a woman seen as different and cast aside for the very thing that makes

02:24her unique speaks to the heart of every black woman who has ever been judged and misunderstood

02:31and yet still learned that her power was her gift all along.

02:36So I thought that I, Cynthia, would speak to your hearts.

02:43I wanted to take this opportunity as more than an opportunity to accept this beautiful

02:48award and honor, and I wanted to use it as a way to affirm you all.

02:56You weren't insane when you were dreaming of being a superhero.

03:01You weren't asking too much when you wanted to be seen for the lead.

03:07When you were little and you believed you could fly, that wasn't a fairy tale.

03:13When you look at the mirror and the thought crosses your mind, if only for a fleeting

03:18moment that you might be in possession of powerful magic, entertain that thought.

03:25Do not dismiss it, nourish it, because it's real.

03:32When you walk into a room and people stare, my darlings, you have an audience now.

03:43Give them what they came for.

03:55Take the space, it's yours for the taking.

03:59You belong there.

04:02I know that some of us in this room are still waiting for the permission to be, to own every

04:09facet of what makes us, us.

04:14Let me be the one to say, be.

04:18Stop hiding.

04:21The thing I have learned in this wonderful moment in my life is that if you do it your

04:25way, no one can take it from you.

04:35We get so afraid of what love we might lose if we choose to simply show up as ourselves,

04:41but the truth is any love you lose because of that was never yours to have in the first

04:45place.

04:50And I personally want love that is true and steadfast and accepting and celebratory and

04:58long-lasting and encouraging and mine.

05:03It's not easy to believe that any dream you have is possible, but if you happen to be

05:08sat listening to a bald-headed black Brit born in South London to a single mum, if you

05:17happen to be sat listening to a 30-something-year-old proud alt-black girl with a gap in her smile,

05:27a wide nose and high cheekbones, then you happen to be listening to a woman whose dreams

05:33materialized in real time before your very eyes.

05:39I got to fly, and now the skies are waiting for you too.

05:53So believe me when I say this last thing.

05:57I hope and pray that those dreams you keep tucked away rise to the surface.

06:04I hope that the dreams you dare to dream really do come true.

06:10It is an honour to share this moment with three exquisite human beings.

06:16Tiana, Ramla, Miss Mala, you are exemplary.

06:23And the world sees something that I don't see.

06:28I see something else.

06:30Ramla, I see the funny, insanely obsessive musical theatre kid in you that nobody knows

06:39exists but I do.

06:42And Tiana, that soft spirit that you don't get to share all the time because you're making

06:49sure that everyone's okay.

06:52The bravery it takes to take on a role like you did in 1001 when you haven't done something

06:59like that before is a big, massive step towards what I'm so excited to see of you.

07:05There's so much more, and Oscar's waiting for you, my sweet.

07:16I kept trying to think about what else I might say, but I really just wanted to be here to

07:21celebrate everyone who's in this room because I know how hard it is to get up in the morning

07:26when you think the world's against you.

07:29And even when the lights are sparkling and the fashion is on and the makeup is done,

07:34there are days when you think, how am I going to do this?

07:39But you do.

07:41And I commend you for it because there are days when no one commends us for it.

07:48And let today be the day that Cynthia Erivo said, you're amazing.

08:01Don't let anyone tell you that you're anything less than that.

08:04And if they do, don't listen.

08:09Not worth your time.

08:11You have so much more to do than listen to that nonsense.

08:16I love you and thank you.

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