Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum picked up another award earlier this month at the 2017 Broadcast Digital Awards, nabbing recognition as the Best Scripted Programme.
On Tuesday, Coel shared footage of her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony to the cast, crew, and countless women who inspired her.
“This is for the girl who did not have the gift of being told that she would be OK doing what she loved,” she said. ” Whose mother was so failed by the world she couldn’t tell you you could succeed in anything. So oppressed by the world she couldn’t tell you that you had the right to be free within it. Whose mother was so ignored by the world she couldn’t tell you that you could stand in the center of it.”
“That you, woman, could stand in the center of your family, of your own life, of a story. She simply didn’t have the evidence. In many ways, it really rather sucks, to start with so many setbacks: poor, dark female. But from those setbacks, come a resilience, a hardiness, a perseverance that cannot be replicated. Find it in yourself, and there you will find your story already written. Thank you.”
Coel captioned the video, “Maybe there’s some person out there who hasn’t started following their dreams yet that should hear this.”
We know we feel inspired and, undoubtedly, so do many other women.