*Chadwick Boseman’s wife, Simone Ledward Boseman delivered an emotional acceptance speech while accepting his win for Outstanding Actor In A Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday.
The late actor won for his work in Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Boseman passed away in August at the age of 43 after a four-year private battle with colon cancer.
“As always, he would give all honor and glory to the most high God,” Ledward said. “He would thank his mom and dad, and he would give honor to the ancestors as we now honor him. Thank you NAACP Image Awards for always giving him his flowers. He was an uncommon artist and an even more uncommon person. But the manner in which we lost him is not uncommon at all. Not in our community.”
READ MORE: Ryan Coogler Talks Challenges of Making ‘Black Panther 2’ without Chadwick Boseman [VIDEO]
Chadwick Boseman’s wife, Taylor Ledward, delivered an emotional acceptance speech on Chadwick’s behalf last night as he wins Outstanding Actor In A Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards ????????????????pic.twitter.com/Kk9YlAyjkA
— HOT 97 (@HOT97) March 28, 2021
Ledward also urged the Black community to get screened for colon cancer.
“Black people in this country are 20 percent more likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and 40 percent more likely to die from it. The age for routine screening has recently been lowered to 45 so if you are 45 years of age or older, please get screened. Don’t put it off any longer, please get screened,” she explained.
“This disease is beatable if you catch it in its early stages so you don’t have any time to waste even if you have no family history and even if you think nothing is wrong,” she continued, “And if you are younger than 45, please be proactive about your health. Know the signs, know the science, listen to your body. If you need more information and for a full list of colon cancer symptoms you can visit standuptocancer.org/coloncancersymptoms. Please, you are so needed and you are so loved. Please take your health into your own hands. Thank you.”
Earlier this year, Boseman won Best Actor at the Critics Choice Awards for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and in February, his performance in the film also earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. He earned a posthumous Oscar nod or the film—and Boseman is the first actor to receive four nominations at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” according to Variety.
In related news, “Black Panther” writer and director Ryan Coogler appeared on the Jemele Hill is Unbothered podcast recently where he opened up about the challenges of making the sequel without his leading man Chadwick Boseman.
“I’m still currently going through it,” Coogler said about Boseman. “One thing that I’ve learned in my short or long time on this Earth is that it’s very difficult to have perspective on something while you’re going through it. This is one of the more profound things that I’ve gone through in my life, having to be a part of keeping this project going without this particular person who is like the glue who held it together.”
While Coogler is “incredibly sad” that Boseman is no longer with us, he also noted that he is “incredibly motivated that I got to spend time with him. You spend your life hearing about people like him. For this individual, who is an ancestor now, I was there for it. It’s such an incredible privilege that fills you up as much as it knocks you out. So often as Black people, we have to pick up the pieces after loss.”
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