People’s Choice Awards: Jennifer Lopez Gives Inspiring Speech For Girls of Color
There’s no denying 2019 was a great year for Jennifer Lopez following success in both music and film so naturally, she was selected as the E! People’s Choice Awards 2020 Icon Award Sunday night
Photo: Instagram/@enews
There’s no denying 2019 was a great year for Jennifer Lopez following success in both music and film so naturally, she was selected as the E! People’s Choice Awards 2020 Icon Award Sunday night. She kicked off this year performing at the Super Bowl with Shakira and now she’s coming out with a skincare line so there are clearly no limits for the multi-talented artist and entrepreneur. In 2019 she celebrated turning 50 with her “It’s My Party” solo world tour and she starred in Hustlers, receiving critical acclaim for her role and earning a Golden Globe nomination. She recently released Spanish-language singles including a two-part collaboration with Maluma on ″Pa’ Ti″ and ″Lonely″. She’ll also share the big screen with the 26-year-old Colombian singer in the rom-com Marry Me, out in May and she’ll play infamous Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in The Godmother.
During her speech, she talked about how the pandemic reminded her that people and connecting are the most important thing. She also reminisced on her success and career trajectory starting out as a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx:
“From being a little girl in the Bronx, New York, and having the privilege of performing on some of the biggest stages in the world … and even at the Super Bowl earlier this year…that was a biggie, I have seen and learned a lot and I am still learning,” she continued, “As a Latina and as a woman, sometimes we have to work twice as hard to get the opportunities.”
Throughout her speech, you could see the video of her 12-year-old twins, daughter Emme, and son, Maximilian proudly watching. She shared how previously she focused on measuring success by the numbers (e.g. box office, records sold) and now she thinks of success as how she’s been able to inspire young girls.
“The true measure is inspiring girls of all ages and of all colors, from all around the world, to know you can be anything you want and do as many things as you want and to be proud of who you are no matter where you come from. I want them to know their dreams are only limited by their imagination, determination, and willingness to never give up”.
She closed out her speech addressing the Latinx community: “Y a mi gente Latina, a donde quiere que yo este, y donde quiere que yo vaya, siempre los tengo presente, y es para mi un orgullo poder representar a los Latinos de todas partes, con todo mi corazón y con todo mi amor. Gracias mi gente… recuerden, la vida es un tango y hay que seguir bailando siempre.”
