Viola Davis delivered a powerful speech at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards on Saturday night, where she reflected on her early beginnings, success in the industry and the current state of the nation.
The EGOT winner was honored with the Chairman’s Award, hitting the stage on Saturday and beginning her acceptance speech by noting, “I always feel like I’m going to step into feeling like I deserve it.”
“I like this quote, that the definition of hell is on your last day on Earth, the person you became meets the person that you could have become,” she continued. “I say that about our nation, I say that about myself; that there is no becoming until you face the depth and the darkness of your own soul. There is no becoming without healing, and without a radical acceptance of one’s truth. I know that about myself growing up in poverty.”
The Woman King actress reflected on her upbringing, noting, “Little chocolate girl with thick lips and wide nose in Rhode Island in 1965. I didn’t see hope. I didn’t see dreams. I just wanted to be somebody. I wanted success because I thought it was significance. And no one can describe the journey of going from the little chocolate girl searching for hope, searching for God, and the girl living a transcendent life.”
“That is a hero’s journey, and we have only to follow the thread of a hero’s path. And where we had thought we would find an abomination, we shall find a God. And where we thought that we could slay the other, we will slay ourselves. And where we had thought to journey outwards, we shall come to the center of our own existence,” Davis added. “And where we had thought to be alone, we shall come to be with all the world. There is no soul of a nation without the soul of its people. And the soul of its people is not just who is represented in the breathing and alive people in this room, but by all those who are no longer here. We either move forward together or not at all. There is no man behind the curtain who has a control over your life.”
“Our crown has already been bought and paid for,” she said. “All we have to do is wear it.”
Davis went on to commend “the people that we forget, the people don’t that we don’t think about, the work that we don’t want to do,” sharing praise for “the people working at the food pantry in Central Falls feeding 3000 people a month, the people who are caring for my mother who’s in advanced dementia, caring for the least of these.”
“You are my hero. I see you,” she concluded. “Thank you.”
Saturday night, Colman Domingo additionally received the President’s Award, while Salt-n-Pepa and DJ Spinderella were set to be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards’ Hall of Fame.
Ahead of the televised awards show, a slew of winners were unveiled earlier this week. Michelle Obama, Will Packer and Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show each won big during night one; Lamar, SZA and Cardi B took home awards during night two; and Sinners, Gracie’s Corner, Ironheart, Celebrity Family Feud and Straw acquired victories on night three.
See the full 2026 NAACP Image Awards winners list here.