America Ferrera issued a rallying call to her fellow stars during the Critics Choice Association’s 5th annual Celebration of Latino Cinema and Television, where she asked her peers to use their talents for good amid a tense political climate.
The “Barbie” star, who was onstage as the recipient of the Trailblazer Award at Friday’s ceremony, used her moment in the spotlight to remind those in attendance of the power they have as members of Hollywood.
“In a day and age where discourse and conversation are failing to create connection and empathy and understanding, the storytelling we do becomes more vital,” she said in her speech. “Our art becomes more vital. Our journalism becomes more vital. Storytelling through movies and television has the power to transport people outside of their entrenched logic and into their hearts.”
She added: “It takes us out of our well-worn ways of thinking about issues and it places us inside of visceral experiences that bring us into human lives.”
Ferrera noted that she believes “deeply in the power of what we do,” adding that artists are “essential” in times like these. While she didn’t name President Donald Trump directly, she did reference a history scholar, Scot Nakagawa, who she quoted as saying “we are barreling towards a crisis point in our country.”
“We can’t do anything we do in this room without our freedoms,” she continued. “Artists and the stories we tell have a role to play in this moment. We have an obligation to point not only to what we are against, but to create and to demonstrate the world that we are for — and the world that we want to live in.”
Ferrera shared it was “our opportunity as storytellers” to “lift each other up” and “to give each other our humanity.”
“And in this moment, we have an obligation to reserve our rights as storytellers, as artists. And make no mistake, we are there,” she concluded. “And it is time for us to find our courage, find our heroism, be as brave as the characters we write and as brave as the characters we play, and stand up and use our voices and use our art, make art that inspires and calls forth the world we want to live in.”
Watch Ferrera’s full speech above.
