Yes. Is this working? Uh you have to bear with me because um this
is not necessarily a, a black thing. It's a human thing. And I want to say some words
to the human, the humans out there. First of all, you better
Thank somebody because you're above ground. You ain't gotta thank who I think
But thank somebody. We on this side of the dirt. I know that freedom
ain't free. Every generation we have to fight to hold on to that freedom
There's a saying that um you free, just pick the cotton. Well
we ain't picking no more cotton. If we picking cotton, we gonna get paid for picking the cotton
We gonna get paid for distributing the cotton, producing the cotton, investing in generational wealth
I want to thank the Broadway League. I wanna thank all the white folks
all the good white folks. I wanna thank all the good black and brown folks
I wanna thank my friends of the deaf and hard of hearing community
All of my work has only been about we are one human bleeding
the same blood. Let's get rid of this stupid shit between us that keeps us from each other
When I think of uh Legacy Award, I don't take it lightly and I still got a lot more work to do
But when I think about it, I think of personally those shoulders that I saw on and so bear with me
just a little bit. Adrian Kennedy. I had a small part in bringing her show to Broadway this year
She's 91 years old, a 91 year old African American woman. But what I think about what I get
from her is that for 50 years, it took her 50 years to get her story to
the great white way. So endurance, endurance
stay strong, stay diligent. Adrian Kennedy, thank you. Also, I work with the great
August Wilson. I spent five, the last five weeks of his life
I was with him working on his last play, radio, golf. I was sitting on the porch with
with, with his wife Constanza Romero and dramaturg Todd Kreitler. And I remember him saying Kenny
you are so gifted, you're so gifted. America must reward you in the same way
They would reward someone who is not black. So identify a person that's not black
that you think has the same gift that you do and then demand that superficially
you get what they give him. So at least every show, a Broadway producer talks to me about I fly first class
not because I don't have to fly. I don't, I can fly coach but to honor August Wilson
I demand first class when I get to the destination, I want a king size bed
I deserve a king size bed. So respect, honor, demand that August Wilson also said
where were they when the page was blank? Where were they when the page was blank
So it starts with a blank page. Other people, I've been lucky to breathe the same air
Ruben de and Ozzy Davis. I said Davis, people don't know when I did the first Raised
In the Sun starring Sean Combs. When I did that production, it had been 45 years
45 years since the original Raised in the Sun. And it took 45 years to bring it to Broadway because the estate demanded that it
be led by an African American. So we've come a long way
we've come a long way and I thank the league for being a part of that
So now 62 years later, during that time, Ozzy Davis was getting ready to go on for raising and his son behind
the great Sidney Poitier, he was writing a play called Pearly Victorious
He couldn't stand the pain so he couldn't write a drama. So he wrote a comedy about America
And 62 years later, I get along with Leslie Adams Junior. I get to bring that story to Broadway in September also
in the same room, Ruby D and is they gave me notes for Raisin in the Sun
They say, hey, so now I need to say this. Felicia needs to say that Audra needs to say that and I love them
So what they taught me is we are all connected. My raisin in the sun is connected to the original raisin in the sun
which is connected to the Sheriff Pros before them, which was connected to the enslaved before them
which was connected to the Africans before them. It's all connected other people
I've been in the room with, I was in a room with Sidney Poitier on one side and Denzel Washington on the other
And I remember people gave me, excuse me, little ones gave me shit about
Well, you know, I think Denzel was a little too old to play that role and I went to Mr Poitier and we stood in
his living room and I say Sydney, we wanna do this play
Who do you think is worthy of doing it? He said, there's only one man that can do it
He's standing right next to you. And I said, what about the critics
What about the critics saying that he's too old because we're doing it because we think that Dreams
The dreams is a desperate dream. You have one shot at the dream when Lorraine wrote it
the, the character was sort of 30 years old, but now it needs to be older because we give one dream
And Mr Poitier said to me, I said, what do I say to those critics? He says
them. And then only a few short weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being in the living room with the great
wonderful Harry Belafonte. And like my mom say, you ain't been, you ain't lucky Kenny
you're blessed. I was blessed to be in the room with, oh
they playing the music. Y'all want me to go. Is that ready to go or do I keep going
But Belafonte, he said, Kenny America has lost its barometer. African Americans have lost their barometer too
Don't spend the time trying to find the barometer. Spend the time holding a mirror up to humanity
Hold that mirror up, tell the truth. Tell the truth. When you're on the stage
tell the truth of your plays. And then Toni Morrison said to me
Kenny when I did her first opera, she said, oh, Kenny ain't nothing boring about black people
Our funerals ain't boring even when we were enslaved. It wasn't boring
We lived our lives. Ain't nothing boring about black folks. I celebrate Juneteenth
the life and lives and the stories that we tell in a pursuit
of a more perfect beautiful union. I accept this award and I will use
it as fuel. Should bring all of us closer together. Thank you. Happy Juneteenth