When exuberant Hollywood star Niecy Nash-Betts blasted out her ode to self-empowerment upon winning her 2024 Emmy for her performance in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, she made clear what many accomplished people think, even if they don’t say it. Nash-Betts said defiantly: “I want to thank me…for believing in me and doing what they said I could not do.”
Nash-Betts’s galvanizing speech is the keynote moment in a video being amplified by the activist group When We All Vote and its co-chair, former First Lady Michelle Obama, to celebrate Black History Month.
Though she was referring to doubts in the show business world about her ability to achieve the highest accolades of her profession, Nash-Betts’s words are especially poignant when placed in the context of Black voters’ rights, as they are here. In the new context, when Nash-Betts thanks herself for “doing what they said I could not do,” the whole tragic history of Black voter suppression is invoked — and challenged.
This #BlackHistoryMonth, join us in celebrating Black joy, uplifting Black history, and sharing one important message:
— When We All Vote (@WhenWeAllVote) February 1, 2024
There is so much power in OUR VOTE! ✊🏾
Make sure you’re registered to vote at https://t.co/FZtPx93oQy, and DM three friends this link to register too! pic.twitter.com/F8OGzZDmcA
[NOTE: Nash-Betts was echoing a similar self-congratulatory speech that Snoop Dogg delivered when he was given his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.]
NBA star and former President of the NBA Players Association, Chris Paul — who is, with Obama, a co-chair of the organization — adds his belief that “when we all work together, we can make our voices heard.”
Obama, long an advocate for get-out-the-vote initiatives, shared the video without commenting in the caption. The former First Lady and Paul have worked previously on campaigns for When We All Vote, including a drive to increase voter registration at the nation’s HBCUs.
