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Cynthia Erivo Encourages Black Women to Dream Big at Essence Awards: ‘I Got to Fly and Now the Skies Are Waiting for You Too’
Keke Palmer presented the
Erivo — who was honored alongside Teyana Taylor, Raamla Mohamed, Marla Gibbs and Tyra Banks — began her speech by reading a quote that Essence posted shortly after “Wicked” hit theaters. Taking a beat to allow the sentiment to sink in (and for the applause to die down), Erivo then said: “It’s not easy to believe that any dream you have is possible, but if you happen to be sat listening to a bald-headed Black Brit, born in South London to a single mom. In the same spirit, Mohamed then shouted out nearly three dozen Black women writers — from Yvette Lee Bowser, Shonda Rimes and Courtney Kemp, to Lena Waithe, Robin Thede and Natasha Rothwell — for “surviving and thriving” and inspiring her despite the challenges they all face.
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