There are moments in Hollywood that transcend the glitz of awards season and land somewhere deeper — somewhere sacred. Kerry Washington’s Essence Black Women in Hollywood speech was one of those moments.

Washington was recognized for her work as an actor, producer, and director throughout her career in a presentation by her former UnPrisoned co-star Delroy Lindo.  In true Kerry fashion, she reflected on the first time she was honored at Essence Black Women in Hollywood — back in 2012 — a pivotal turning point in her career when she had just stepped into the iconic role of Olivia Pope on ABC’s Scandal, making history as the first Black woman to lead a network drama in nearly 40 years. 

She came to that stage fourteen years ago carrying the weight of a community on her shoulders — and she admitted it.

“I Was Nervous Because I Didn’t Yet Understand I Had Been Anointed”

The actress who stars in Imperfect Women on Apple TV opened up about the pressure she felt back in 2012: “I felt an outsized stress and pressure because I thought, ‘Oh man, I have to be perfect. I have to win. I have to get this right so that it’s not another 40 years before they give me, before they give any of us a shot.'”

 Washington acknowledged what everyone in that room already knew — that many talented Black women had wanted that role, had auditioned for it, had gotten on their knees and prayed for it. Still what she found when she walked into that room in 2012 was not competition. It was community.

“Despite all of that, the energy in this room on that day was all love and generosity. You weren’t waiting for me to fail. You were praying for me to win,” she said — if that sentence doesn’t make you tear up.

Fourteen years later, Washington reflected on how the landscape has genuinely shifted: “As jaded as I can be about how hard the business remains, and as realistic as I can be about how difficult it is to still win in this business and in the world as a Black woman, I also know that we didn’t wait another 40 years. There have been so many Black women — whether it’s Viola or Taraji — and women of color. It no longer became a risk to put a woman of color as the face of a network television show.” 

That is the legacy of Olivia Pope. That is the legacy of Kerry Washington.

She closed her remarks with a charge — not just to the women in that room, but to all of us watching from afar: “Wake up, stay woke, because we who believe in freedom will not rest until it comes.” 

Kerry Washington has always been that girl. And she always will be.