Queen Latifah won a SAG Award for her work in Bessie. And it doesn’t seem like she was expecting it, because, as she said, “I am in shock”. I had to rewind her speech a few times though to unpack what she said, very quickly, afterwards, because it stayed with me – did you catch it too?
“I am in shock right now. I shouldn’t be…but I am.”
I shouldn’t be…
God, the power in that moment of candour. You’re supposed to just say you’re in shock, that you didn’t expect it, and leave it at that. But she’s honest enough to tell us that she “shouldn’t be”. Because when you work hard, and you throw down your best work, and you earn the accolades …why should you be shocked when you get them?
All night Latifah talked about how she didn’t look the part, that she doesn’t meet convention, but here’s a black woman from New Jersey, who was probably taller than almost everyone, never physically “delicate”, who went on to become the first female rapper to be nominated for an Oscar and has now been honoured by the Screen Actors Guild. It couldn’t have happened by accident. When it does happen then… well…
“I am in shock right now. I shouldn’t be…but I am.”
The shock, certainly, since this industry isn’t known, as we’ve seen, for its inclusion. She shouldn’t be though because in order for her to have made this possible, she had to believe in herself more and BEFORE anyone else. And she still needs that reminder.
