Lena Waithe Wins MTV's Trailblazer Award and Pays Homage to Ball Culture

Lena Waithe, actor and icon, received the Trailblazer Award at the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards, and she used her speech to recognize black and LGBTQIA heroes in recent history.

She received the award not only for her writing and acting work on Master of None, but also for her activism. At the 2018 Met Gala, for example, Lena wore a rainbow cape to raise awareness for LGBTQIA issues. And after becoming the first black woman to win the Emmy for comedy writing, she gave a truly inspirational speech, saying, "I see each and every one of you. The things that make us different, those are our superpowers."

During the MTV Awards, which aired Monday night (June 18), Lena again used her platform to make a moving speech. She began by talking about how thankful she was to receive the honor — and also recognized those who came before. "According to the dictionary, [a trailblazer] means to be a pioneer or an innovator, and I’m extremely grateful that you guys see me in that light," she said. "But, I believe that the only reason that I’m even allowed to stand here is because of a few other trailblazers that some of you might not be aware of."

She went on to talk about the historic 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning, which focuses on the drag ball golden age in New York in the 1980s. It was through that film that she says she learned about "the lives of some of the greatest human beings to ever walk the face of this earth."

Lena also highlighted the influential people she learned about, saying, "...It introduced me to trailblazers such as Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, Angie Xtravaganza, and Willi Ninja, just to name a few. Tonight, I want to share this award with them. I want to do what we, as a society, should’ve done a long time ago, and that’s to give them the glory and the shine they deserve."

Finally, Lena gave credit to these previous trailblazers for their influence on everything from language to equal rights: "...Their legacies will never die because they live on in all of us. And every time someone says, 'Shade,' or talks about reading or just decides to serve face for no reason at all, please look up to the sky and give thanks, because we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. They strutted through a brick wall so we wouldn’t have to."

It's exactly the kind of speech a true trailblazer would give.

Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email.

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: Lena Waithe Says She’s “Tired of White Folks Telling My Stories”