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The most powerful moments from the 2016 BET Awards

"Just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real"

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The BET Awards have ended for another year, but not without passion. In fact, this year’s awards ceremony has to be one of the most politically-charged we’ve ever seen. Activism was rife, emotion was palpable, and the Black Lives Matter movement was heralded.

Maya Angelou once said that “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Well, we’ll remember the night’s fervour, its empowering call to justice, and its strength of pride. Here are the most powerful moments of the night.

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01. Jesse Williams' speech

Grey’s Anatomy actor Jesse Williams received a standing ovation in what will be one of the most iconic speeches ever made at the awards ceremony. The 34-year-old touched on the Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality, and conditional freedom in an extremely confrontational speech. Sometimes, we need to be confronted in order to truly hear.

“We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries,” he said, “and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil — black gold! — ghettoising and demeaning our creations and stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.”

“Just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real. Thank you.” According to Samuel L. Jackson, it was one of the greatest speeches he’d heard since the 1960s.


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02. Samuel L. Jackson receives Lifetime Achievement Award

“It’s sort of exciting, I never get nervous, and I can hear my voice shaking and it’s strange to hear myself sound that way. But it’s been a great ride getting here, as there are a couple people very instrumental in that.” Watch him give a glowing tribute to the women in his life.

03. Usher's political statement

Couldn’t have said it better myself.


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04. Bey's mum Tina Knowles accepting her award, thanking Jay

According to Mother Knowles, Bey had to hop on a plane straight after her performance. On behalf of her daughter, Tina thanked Jay and Blue. No love lost, then?


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05. The trailer for "The New Edition Story"

BET released the exclusive trailer for The New Edition Story, an epic film concerning one of the greatest bands in history.

06. BET fashion

[Leon Bennett @ Getty images]

EJ Johnson, Janelle Monae, Jidenna.


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07. Prince is honoured by Sheila E


The Roots, Stevie Wonder, Maxwell, Erykah Badu, and more also graced the stage to pay tribute to the late legend himself. The BET awards were happy with that one.

08. An opening surprise: Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar perform 'Freedom'

Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar surprised us all with a stellar performance of Lemonade‘s ‘Freedom’. A performance that had not been advertised prior to the show. It began with an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have A Dream’. High levels of choreography, flying sparks, and water stomping ensued. Bey and Lamar will truly give you goosebumps. Empowering stuff.

On a side not, BET had recently been the butt of a joke by those who believed Bey was too big for the awards ceremony. So naturally, some slight shade had to be served.

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