Every successful person has had their fair shares of failures, but they also have the moments that built them up. Samuel L. Jackson, 67, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at last night’s [Sunday, June 26] 2016 BET Awards and his acceptance speech revealed exactly what and who drove him to be the successful man that he is today.
Director Spike Lee stepped to the BET Awards Stage to present Samuel L. Jackson with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Jackson gave a heartfelt speech expressing his gratitude toward what and who made him the success that he is today: the women in his family. Jackson acknowledged his Aunt Edna, who he reveals gave him his start in acting. “My Aunt Edna who just jumped up was the first person to put me in a costume of any sort…” said Jackson. “She was a performing arts 4th grade teacher in Chattanooga, Tennesse and she was in charge of making sure the Negro’s performed for the white school board and she never had no boys and I lived in the house with her. So she lit the fire that started all this. She was the spark….”
Jackson continued on to acknowledge his cousin Wanda, for allowing him to perform for her and thanked the people that he has worked with over the years that gave him his foundation and understanding of the art. “I performed for her, told her stories, and made her laugh and she made me think I could actually do this and here I am, still.” Jackson goes on to express gratitude toward two people who stand ground as his main motivation and savior- his daughter Zoe and wife LaTanya. “The other two people that challenge me on a regular basis and that are my foundation and support, my daughter Zoe and my wife LaTanya. The two women that actually found me passed out on the floor after I left somebody’s bachelor party and put my a** in rehab the next day and uh, supported me and pushed me and give me a reason to get up and go and chase it day after day after day.”
Samuel L. Jackson’s acceptance speech was one of inspiration where he revealed his flaws with transparency, but sewed a message of strength along with them. He described himself as, “A young man that grew up in segregated Tennessee that nobody ever told I could be this so here I am and here you are and thank God for that.”
Check out the full video of his acceptance speech here.
