Raamla Mohamed acceptance speech at ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00It is my honor to present the 2025 Essence Black Women in Hollywood Visionary Award to the incredible Ramlah Mohamed.
00:30You know what, Joe Issa, I'm going to call you by your government name.
00:43Thank you so much.
00:44I just want to thank you for, Issa rearranged our whole schedule to do this.
00:49So it's very sweet.
00:53I'm a little short, I'm 5'2".
00:57But wow, what a room.
00:59I've been in this room a few times, but this is obviously a different perspective in many
01:05ways.
01:06So I know there are many of us here that have been affected by the fires last month.
01:11So I want to send you love and prayers for having to and continuing to go through such
01:17a devastating experience.
01:20Miss Marla, Tiana, Cynthia, to say it's an honor to share this with you is an understatement.
01:28Miss Marla, you were in one of my Scandal episodes, and witnessing your talent in person
01:32was a gift that I'll always treasure.
01:35Tiana, we don't know each other that well, but your performance in 1001 is truly one
01:41of the best on-screen performances I've seen in a long time, maybe if ever.
01:48And finally, Cynthia, I'm so grateful to call you a friend, and I'm so excited watching
01:56you be recognized for the incredible talent that you have, and it just warms my heart.
02:01So congratulations to you all.
02:04In preparing for this speech, I thought about what I could say here.
02:09Then I remembered in 2022, during the press run of season one of Reasonable Doubt, a white
02:16male reporter asked me, how did it feel to have my own show, given that I came out of
02:21nowhere?
02:26I smiled the Kamala Harris, Jasmine Crockett, Olivia Pope smile that signals, give me a
02:34second before I roast you, and then I politely said, well, I've been a television writer
02:40for 10 years, so it feels fantastic to have my own show.
02:44But here's what I really wanted to say.
02:48And what a better place to say it.
02:49So here goes.
02:51Sir.
02:52Are you serious?
02:55Do you know the struggle I've been through to get here?
03:03The fourth floor walk up I lived in, the fear of failure, the fear of success, the antidepressants,
03:08the failed pilot scripts, pushing through heartbreak, oh, and how can I forget?
03:13Just being a black woman.
03:16It's actually a miracle that I made it here.
03:18Is that why you question how I got here?
03:21Because it's impossible to fathom that I might be the main character of my own story.
03:26On my own hero's quest, like one of the Greek mythological characters you forced me to learn
03:32about instead of surviving a cross-continental kidnapping that you are now forcing us all
03:37to forget about.
03:40Does it scare you?
03:41Does it scare you that I came from one of your private institutions, that I sat across
03:46from one of your daughters or nieces at the Ivy League school, where despite all your
03:50fears and beliefs, our intellect made us equal, that I got my master's without the help of
03:57a master, that this half African, half American woman succeeded by being creative in a world
04:05you created to stifle our dreams, limit our possibilities, and not only did I surpass
04:11your expectations, but I stayed black while doing it.
04:22But the truth is, I'm not the only one who's surviving and thriving.
04:27So I want to say their names, some other black female writers that have inspired me, Yvette
04:32Lee Bowser, Ava DuVernay, Courtney Kemp, Shonda Rhimes, Lena Waithe, Issa Rae, and Ketchy
04:41Carroll, Katori Hall, Mara Brock Akil, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Karla Waddles, Diara Kilpatrick,
04:48Robin Thede, Erika Harrison, Loi Webb, Michelle Flowers, Anil Foreman, Jordan Crawford, Rashida
04:55Brady, Esther Lou Withers, Natalia Tomeskin, Tembi Banks, Amy Inobi, Erica Johnson, Tash
05:03Gray, Myesha Clausen, Abby Ajayi, Janine Neighbors, Joanne Clack, Brittany Mack, Crystal Jennings,
05:11Latoya Morgan, Ayanna Floyd, Radha Blank, Kiana Taylor, Sarah Finney Johnson, Nichelle
05:18Tramble Spellman, Gina Yashiri, Shannon Houston, Jashika James, Janika James, Attica Locke,
05:26Tim B. Locke, Adana Ebo, Adama Ebo, and Natasha Wathwell.
05:34On this stage right now, I want to say that every one of you in this room, everyone at
05:40home watching this, watching this room and wanting to be in this room, all of you deserve
05:46to be seen. Thank you, Essence, for this incredible honor. I'm truly humbled and overwhelmed for
05:52this recognition. I'd also like to thank God for allowing me to be here, stand here, and
05:59be blessed enough to support myself through my art. I dedicate this award to my father
06:05and grandmother, both of whom I miss every day, and I thank you again.