What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. And I&`&m especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories. Each of us in this room are celebrated because of the stories that we tell, and this year we became the story.
But it&`&s not just a story affecting the entertainment industry. It&`&s one that transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics, or workplace. So I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who haveendured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue.
They&`&re the women whose names we&`&ll never know.They are domestic workers and farm workers. They are working in factories and they work in restaurants and they&`&re in academia, engineering, medicine, and science. They&`&re part of the world of tech and politics and business.
In my career, what I&`&ve always tried my best to do, whether on television or through film, is to say something about how men and women really behave. To say how we experience shame, how we love and how we rage, how we fail, how we retreat, persevere, and how we overcome.
I&`&ve interviewed and portrayed people who&`&ve withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights. So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon!
And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenalmen, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say "Me too" again.