Making us temporarily forget about the status of R9, Rihanna was honored this weekend at the NAACP Image Awards for her substantial philanthropic efforts around the world, which isn’t just, uh, reminding us it’s a privilege to walk among her. (You know her wild Diamond Ball? Yeah, it raises a lot of money for charity. Like, tens of millions every year.) In her acceptance speech for the award, Rih further empowered her friends and peers with a call to action about making the world a better place, stressing that making an impact is “bigger than me.”
“If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that we can fix this world together. We can’t do it divided. I can’t emphasize that enough,” she explained. “We can’t let the desensitivity seep in — the ‘If it’s your problem, it’s not mine.’ ‘It’s a woman’s problem.’ ‘It’s a black people problem.’ ‘It’s a poor people problem.’ How many of us in this room have colleagues and partners and friends from other races, ***es, religions? Show of hands? Well then, they want to break bread with you, right? They like you? Well then, this is their problem, too. So, when we’re marching and protesting and posting about the Michael Brown Jr.s and the Atatiana Jeffersons of the world, tell your friends to pull up. Imagine what we could do together. Thank you for this honor.”
Later in the ceremony, 8-year-old Blue Ivy Carter and her proud mama, Beyoncé, took home an award for their The Lion King: The Gift collaborative song “Brown Skin Girl.” (We sincerely hope all of this recent awards success won’t go to Blue’s head.) Lizzo, who snagged the Entertainer of the Year honor, also gave a rousing speech that celebrated the power of black womanhood. “I just want to shout out all the big black girls I bring onstage with me,” she said. “I do that because I want them to know they are the trophies. Since this is the final award of the night, I don’t even want to make it about me. Every last one of you: You are the award. We are so special. We are such a beautiful people. This is just a reminder of all the incredible things that we can do. God bless you, and keep on being an award. Let’s go!”
Meanwhile, Lil Nas X celebrated his “Old Town Road” win by crashing a wedding at Disney World. We can’t wait for him to see Main Street, U.S.A.
