Jesse Williams’ Speech at 2016 BET Awards Essay Example
Jesse Williams’ Speech at 2016 BET Awards Essay Example

Jesse Williams’ Speech at 2016 BET Awards Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (654 words)
  • Published: January 19, 2022
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Most people have come to agree that what matters in a speech is not necessarily the message that is being passed but rather how it is said. Basing the analysis on this argument, it is safe to utter that the 34-year old grey’s anatomy star, Jesse Williams won the BET Awards because of how persuasive his speech was to the audience (Toney 1). Jesse had organized his stylistic devices of presentation well prior to the competition as confirmed from the Awards results. Samuel L. Jackson also made a confession that he had never heard a speech that was powerful as this since 1960s which was so confrontational, wildly inspirational and bounded to become the cornerstone of the Black Lives Matter movement. In this regard, this analysis will, therefore, base its focus on the persuasive dev

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ises and techniques that Jesse used in order to effectively present his piece to the audience until he won the competitions.

First, he caught the audience’s attention by expressing a selfless interest in the context. He began by appreciating and thanking BET and all those who had took part in preparing the day. He went on to thank his parents, his wife and teachers for having taught him to focus on his career comprehensively. The audience always long to see a heart that is not self centered and one which values the human dignity. He even declares everyone as a winner of the award by denying that it is not his alone. The black Americans, the BET and the entire society have been included as winners in the awards and this won the trust and attention of the audience in his speec

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(Anderson & Thomas 1).

Next, Jesse’s speech was an echo of most of what previous primitive people such as Martin Luther King had said concerning racism. His speech was just a collection of ideas that had been mentioned earlier alone by political thinkers as well as the modern activists and artists. In addition Jesse used quotes said by prominent people who had won the trust of the Americans such as Audre Lorde who had once said that “The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House” (Toney 1). He in turn received standing ovation from the audience because Martin Luther King is known to be a hero and most people have already appreciated their selfless efforts of fighting racial discrimination in the United States.

Jesse Williams’ speech was also brief and precise. His speech was very short and each word he uttered presented an important distillation of the various conversations that had been going on concerning social justice in the current world. In this regard, he answered most of the questions that were lingering in people’s minds concerning the issue of social discrimination and more specifically to the black Americans (Toney 1). His inspiration was also contributed by how he showed impatient with those people who are at the front line of criticizing the method groups.

The ending of his speech was marked by persuasive words of “we should”. Jesse ended the speech by making an appeal to the audience so that it could join hands in ending racial discrimination in the United States. He had led the audience to consider the harm that racial oppression and cultural appropriation having has led into the lives of the black

Americans. These words drew a thunderous applause and shouts from the audience as a sign of acceptance to the appeal he made (Toney 1). From this analysis, Jesse Williams was able present briefly, persuasively as well as reflective words to deliver his speech effectively.

Work cited:

  • Thomas, Dexter, & Anderson Tre'vell. The social justice conversations behind Jesse Williams' BET speech. 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-bet-jesse-williams-20160627-snap-story.html
  • Toney, Veronica. Jesse Williams gave one of the most memorable speeches in award show history full transcript. 2016. Retrieved from:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/06/27/jesse-williams-gave-one-of-the-most-memorable-speeches-in-award-show-history-full-transcript/
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