Black Lives Matter — that was among the main takeaways from last night’s Emmy Awards. From the winners’ speeches to the winners themselves, Black voices were recognized, amplified, and celebrated. The ceremony marked a new record of Black acting nominees and winners. Seven Black performers took home trophies, besting 2018’s previous milestone of six. The honorees are: Regina King, Zendaya, Uzo Aduba, Maya Rudolph, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eddie Murphy, and Ron Cephas Jones.
King won Lead Actress in a Limited Series for “Watchmen,” marking her fourth Emmy in five years. She previously received two awards for “American Crime” (2015, 2016) and another for “Seven Seconds” (2018). She is now tied with Alfre Woodard for the most Emmys won by a Black actor, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In her speech, King described “Watchmen” — an epic sci-fi taking on race, history, and violence in a parallel United States — as “a journey where we could bring art to truth to power.” Wearing a Breonna Taylor shirt, she reminded the viewers to vote and honored a dearly departed feminist hero. “Gotta vote. I would be remiss not to mention that, being part of a show as prescient as ‘Watchmen.’ Have a voting plan, go to [Ballotpedia], vote up the ballot, please!” she said. “It is very important. Be a good human. Rest in power, RBG.”
After her win, King spoke about Taylor and the specific experience of being both Black and female in America. “I love being a Black woman, I loved being a Black girl,” she explained. “I love being American, and it’s important that people see all of those things together, and when you have the platform celebrate that and remind those that tend to look past Black girls, Black women. When I saw my sister Uzo had on this same shirt it just was a confirmation that this was right,” she added, referencing Aduba’s top, which was emblazoned with the words “Breonna Taylor.”
Aduba, who won Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for portraying Shirley Chisholm in “Mrs. America,” used her speech to recognize her female collaborators and peers — and Chisholm herself. “I want to say a huge thank you to the women that I worked with on ‘Mrs. America’ across the board, along with the women here in this category,” Aduba said, naming her fellow nominees, “Mrs. America” creator Dahvi Waller, and Tanya Barfield, who wrote the “Shirley” episode. “Thank you to Shirley Chisholm for her championship work for all people who have been forgotten and marginalized, whom she represented.” Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress and, in 1972, she became the first Black candidate on a major party’s ticket to run for president and the first woman to seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
“Let’s go change the world,” Aduba said. She previously took home two Emmys for “Orange Is the New Black.”
Zendaya made history with her Emmy victory: at 24 years old, the “Euphoria” star is now the youngest person to win the Lead Actress in a Drama Series prize. She’s also the second Black woman to ever receive the award. Viola Davis became the first in 2015 with her “How to Get Away with Murder” win.
In her acceptance speech, Zendaya praised young activists fighting for social change. “I know that our TV show doesn’t always feel like a great example of that, but there is hope in the young people,” she emphasized. “And I just want to say to all my peers out there doing the work in the streets, I see you, I admire you, I thank you.”
Rudolph won her first — and her second — Emmy during the Creative Arts Emmys’ weeklong ceremony. On Thursday, she took home the Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for voicing “Big Mouth’s” Connie the Hormone Monstress and Saturday saw her winning Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for playing Kamala Harris on “SNL.”
Considering the milestones King, Zendaya, and Rudolph reached, and the words King, Aduba, and Zendaya shared in their speeches, it’s especially fitting that Abdul-Mateen paid tribute to Black women when he won the Supporting Actor in a Limited Series Emmy for “Watchmen.” Describing his character, Cal Abar aka Dr. Manhattan, as “a god who came down to earth to reciprocate to a Black woman all the love that she deserved,” Abdul-Mateen dedicated his prize to “all the Black women in my life, the people who believed in me first — I call you my early investors. I love you. I appreciate you, and this one is for you.”
“Watchmen’s” opening scene revisits the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, one of America’s deadliest incidents of racial violence, yet one that has largely been left out of history books. The tragedy saw white mobs attacking “Black Wall Street,” the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Over 300 Black citizens were killed and thousands more displaced. Accepting the Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series Emmy, “Watchmen” scribe Cord Jefferson paid his respects to the Tulsa Massacre victims while his fellow winner, Damon Lindelof, wore a shirt reading, “Remember Tulsa ’21.”
“I would be remiss if we didn’t recognize all the men and women who died in the Tulsa Massacre in 1921, the original sin of our show,” Jefferson said, connecting the United States’ past to its present. “This country neglects and forgets its own history, its own peril, often and I think that we should never forget them.”
The 2020 Emmys’ other highlights include Maria Schrader winning Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series for “Unorthodox,” the tale of a Hasidic woman leaving her community for Berlin. Schrader thanked the limited series’ creators, Anna Winger and Alexa Karolinski, for “inviting and trusting me to direct.” “Schitt’s Creek’s” Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy won Lead Actress in a Comedy and Supporting Actress in a Comedy, respectively, while Julia Garner received her second Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama statuette for “Ozark.”
The ceremony also featured creatives such as Issa Rae, Lena Waithe, and America Ferrera unpacking the specific obstacles of being a person of color in show business. Rae, for example, recounted her frustration when a white exec told her what Black audiences were looking for in a TV show. Waithe spoke about the importance of people of color telling their own stories, while Ferrera discussed how her voice, the very way she sounds, has been policed. The message of these testimonials was clear: diversity, inclusion, and representation is vital. There are so many other stories out there — from all sorts of people — that deserve to be told.
Find a list of all the 2020 Emmy winners here.
