Chadwick Boseman was the posthumous recipient of the Actor Tribute award for his Academy Award-worthy performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Monday’s Gotham Awards. His wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on his behalf and gave a moving speech about the Black Panther star’s “practice of telling the truth.”
Simone Ledward praised Boseman, who died in August 2020 after a years-long battle with colon cancer, for being the “most honest person I’ve ever met because he didn’t just stop at speaking the truth, he actively searched for it. In himself, in those around him and in the moment. The truth can be a very easy thing for the self to avoid, but if one does not live in truth, then it’s impossible to live in line with a divine purpose for your life. And so it became how he lived his life, day in, day out. Imperfect, but determined.”
The Da 5 Bloods star “was able to give himself over fully in every moment, to be totally present in his own life and in the lives of people he became. He was blessed to live many lives within his concentrated one. He developed his understanding of what it meant to be the none, the one, and the all,” Simone Ledward added, concluding her tearful speech with, “Chad, thank you. I love you. I am so proud of you. Keep shining your light on us.”
Chadwick Boseman’s widow cries as she accepts a Gotham award in his honor. “Chad, thank you,” says Simone Boseman. “Keep shining your light on us.” pic.twitter.com/jQidx0Yp6c
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 12, 2021