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Janelle Monáe is being recognized by the seventh annual SeeHer Award for her groundbreaking work in advocating for positive change.
Pansexual non-binary singer and actress Janelle Monáe is set to receive the SeeHer Award at this year's Critics' Choice Awards.
The SeeHer Award is a prestigious honor that recognizes and celebrates the incredible achievements of a woman who pushes boundaries and defies stereotypes using her voice, platform, and advocacy. She strives for gender equality through her authentic portrayal of characters on screen, inspiring audiences around the world. The SeeHer Award also acknowledges the monumental impact she has had in shaping how women are seen and heard.
With this nomination, Janelle Monáe will join the esteemed list of amazing women honored by this award. Past winners include Halle Berry (2022), Zendaya (2021), Kristen Bell (2020), Claire Foy (2018), Gal Gadot (2017), and Viola Davis (2016).
Janelle Monáe truly deserves our utmost admiration for her dedication to meaningful and impactful causes. She was recently honored with the Suicide Prevention of the Year Award from The Trevor Project. Additionally, she serves as co-president of the When We All Vote initiative and spearheads the Fem The Future organization.
Janelle Monáe is also a beacon of inspiration for people around the globe and deserves recognition for all her amazing accomplishments and achievements.
Her remarkable prowess in music has been acknowledged with two Grammy Awards nominations for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Music Video' for her 2018 album "Dirty Computer." She was also nominated as a 'Featured Artist' on Fun's 2012 hit "Some Nights," and as 'Record of the Year as a Featured Artist' for their 2012 release "We Are Young."
On the big screen, Monáe recently graced the big screen in Netflix's "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," alongside a stellar cast including Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, and Leslie Odom Jr. She garnered a Best Supporting Actress nomination this year for her role in the film. She also shone brightly in the critically acclaimed movies "Moonlight" (2016) and "Hidden Figures" (2016). And we will soon be able to watch her portray Josephine Baker in an upcoming drama series called "De La Résistance," which I'm looking forward to discussing further upon its release later this year.
In addition, Janelle Monáe released her first book, "The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories Of Dirty Computer" last April.
Before being honored with the award, Monae was praised for her impactful representation of women in various roles - both on and off the screen. Then she stepped onto the stage and delivered an inspiring message with a strong call for self-love and acceptance.
Monae started off her acceptance speech with a special shoutout to her co-star Kate Hudson, who presented the award to her. She said "Kate, I love you so much. You are a sister and a powerful force - thank you for your time."
After introducing herself and her pronouns – she/her, they/them – Monae took the opportunity to point out some of the struggles that are often overlooked. She mentioned "mother figure like my character Teresa," children who were abandoned due to their gender identities and women "working in STEM like Mary Jackson, whose brilliant mind continues to advance the technology of this world that you are still fighting for equal pay, I see you. To the schoolteacher like Helen, risking your life every day to teach our kids because we still can't get gun-control together in this country, I see you."
Monáe continued her tributes with a shoutout "To her, with big ideas, like Andi, who constantly has to deal with billionaire douchebags with no original ideas parading around his genius, I see you. These are just a few of the characters I've had the honour of playing."
Monáe added that in her work, be it music, film, TV, fashion or literature, she had tried to make an effort to highlight those who have been pushed to the margins of society; those who have been outcast or relegated to being "the other."
"I tried to make an effort in my work, whether it's storytelling through music, through film, through TV, to fashion, literature, to highlight the ones who've been pushed to the margins of society, who have been outcast or relegated to the other," she said.
"This is a deeply personal choice for me because I grew up to working-class parents: My mother was a janitor, my father was a trash man, and my grandmother was a sharecropper in Aberdeen, Mississippi. And it's personal because I am non-binary, I am queer, and my identity influences my decisions and my work."
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Detailing how she found her purpose with her art, Monáe concluded by saying, "So to anyone out there like me watching right now, I just want you to know that I see you — but I challenge you to see you."
The Critics Choice Awards return on January 15, 2023, with Chelsea Handler hosting the awards gala at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Jeff Bridges is also set to be honored with the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award during the ceremony. Tune in to watch it as it will be broadcast live on The CW for East Coast viewers from 7:00-10:00 PM and delayed for Pacific time zone viewers.
After an incredible year in film and television, the esteemed panel of critics have cast their votes and selected the best of the best. Here's the complete list of winners of the 2023 Critics Choice Awards:
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