Janelle Monáe accepted the SeeHer award at the 28th Critics’ Choice Awards on January 15. She was also nominated for supporting Actress in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
The SeeHer Award honors those who advocate for equality between men and women, defy stereotypes, push boundaries and portray characters with raw authenticity. Previous winners include Zendaya, Viola Davis, Kristen Bell, Claire Foy and Gal Gadot. Halle Berry won the award in 2022.
“SeeHer’s mission is to increase the representation and accurate portrayal of all women and girls in marketing, media, and entertainment to reflect culture and transform society,” the organization’s website reads.
“[Janelle Monáe is] an advocate, an ally, a warrior,” Glass Onion costar Kate Hudson said, referring to the singer-songwriter and actress’ well-known activism.
Monáe received a standing ovation when she took the podium to accept the award. Her crusading has made its way into the characters she chooses to portray on screen. “I’ve tried to make an effort in my work — whether it’s storytelling through music and film or TV and fashion, through literature — to highlight the ones who’ve been outcast or relegated to ‘the other,’” she said.
“This is a deeply personal choice for me because I grew up to working-class parents: My mother was a janitor, my father was a trash man, and my grandmother was a sharecropper in Aberdeen, Mississippi.”
Standing up for the disempowered is personal, for Monáe. “There were so many times in my life, y’all, where I did not see me. I couldn’t see my light. I couldn’t see past my circumstances. If you know my story, I wasn’t supposed to make it out of Kansas City, Kansas, to be here tonight. I wasn’t,” said Monáe.
Other people advocated for Monáe to see what she was capable of. “I didn’t see the vision clearly for myself. I couldn’t see my gift. I couldn’t see what my purpose was supposed to be at that time. But thank you, God, so many other people did. They didn’t give up on me, and they gave me opportunities despite my own lack of confidence. I was fakin’ it till I made it.”
“So to anyone out there like me watching right now, I just want you to know that I see you. But I challenge you to see you.”
