Grey’s Anatomy Star Jesse Williams Receives Humanitarian Award at 2016 BET Awards and gives one of the most powerful speeches at a award show in a long time. Not only is Jesse a actor but a activist who did not hold back and went all the way in about how freedom has eluded African Americans in his acceptance speech. The 34-year-old Grey’s Anatomy actor has starred in a number of films, but it’s his work off-camera that’s being honored today. Williams’ activism and involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement is what set him apart as a candidate for the Humanitarian Award.
And he put his words into action. In October 2014, Williams stood with thousands of others in Ferguson, Missouri to protest the shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown and ensure he did not pass away in vain.
Williams was also an executive producer and actor in Stay Woke, a 2014 a documentary chronicling the birth and growth of the Black Lives Matter movement that premiered last May on BET.
CEO/Chairwoman of BET Debra Lee presented the Humanitarian Award after a video tribute dedicated to him. Williams stepped on stage and gave the usual thank you, than he gives it the audience raw.
“Now, this award, this is not for me, this is for the real organizers all over the country, activist civil rights attorneys, the parents, the teachers, the students who are realizing that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do. All right?” he explained. “It’s kind of basic mathematics, the more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize.”
Williams continued, “Now, this is also in particular for the black women who have spent their lifetime dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves, we can and will do better for you.”
Listen to the full acceptance speech in the video.
