Michelle Obama Proudly Honors Her ‘Girl’ Beyoncé With BET Humanitarian Award

Beyoncé was honored with the Humanitarian Award at the 2020 BET Awards with a moving introduction by Michelle Obama.

The former first lady called her “the queen” as she honored the superstar singer by sharing her philanthropic accomplishments over the years, highlighting how she’s used her incredible platform to help those in need.

“Ever since she was a little girl in Houston, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has been lighting up the stages and gracing the world with her talent with her generosity of spirit, and with her love for her community. You can see it in everything she does, from her music that give voice to Black joy and Black pain, to her activism that demands justice for Black lives,” Obama said.

She continued, “No matter how big the stages get, I know my girl isn’t satisfied unless she’s sharing all that shine she has with the next generation. That’s why she’s always pulling up young performers like Chloe x Halle, and that orchestra that dazzled us in her homecoming special,” she added. “That’s why she’s calling out sexism and racism when she sees it, paving a path for new artists who are trying to navigate the music industry. That’s why she went out of her way to rewrite ‘Get me Bodied’ for the White House’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign and got a whole lot of kids shakin’ it on the dance floor.”

The 21-time Grammy winner accepted the award with a prerecorded speech urging everyone to get out and vote. Beyoncé dedicated her award to her “brothers and sisters out there inspiring me, marching and fighting for change.”

“Your voices are being heard, and you are proving to our ancestors at their struggles were not in vain. Now, we have one more thing we need to do to walk in our true power and that is to vote. I’m encouraging you to continue to take action, continue to change and dismantle a racist and unequal system. We have to continue to do this together, continue to fight for each other and lift each other up because there are people banking on us staying at home during local elections in primaries happening in states across the country,” Beyoncé said.

“We have to vote like our life depends on it, because it does,” she said.

Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD initiative recently teamed up with her mom Tina Knowles to help Black communities in Houston with mobile COVID-19 testing. Her organization has launched scholarships for students at historically Black colleges and universities, partnered with UNICEF to provide clean water and sanitation to the East African country Burundi. She has also launched BeyGOOD’s Black Business Impact Fund.

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