As a writer and a filmmaker, I am inspired by Tyler’s abilities to make the kind of plays and films that he wants to make. He has opened doors that others have said were closed. For that alone, he inspires me. Writing is a lonely life. You spend hours and hours alone with your pen and your thoughts. You don’t know if anyone is gonna like what you’re writing. You don’t know if you’ll have the money to turn an idea into a play or a film. The fact that Tyler has created his career on his terms is inspiring to me. I searched the internet and found, not only the video of his recent acceptance speech for the NAACP Chairman award, but I also found the transcript. Watch the video and if you are unsure of what he said. Read the transcript.

I just wanna say how much I am so honored for this moment. Last year I stood there wishing my mother “Happy Birthday” and this year I stand here grieving. She died December the 8th. It’s been tough but I know God does not make mistakes. And as I stand here I feel her so close to me.

Perhaps it was because she was carrying me in her womb during the time when this nation was grieving the death of Dr. King or maybe it was because I grew up in the bible belt in the deep south or because I spent the summers in the rural Louisiana with my grandmother, a woman who taught me about her great grandfather who was a slave. Maybe it was a combination of all of those things but I’ve always had a tremendous connection of where we’ve come from, to our history. And I’ve always had a tremendous respect for our elders and the debt that they paid. So for the NAACP to say I am a part of the advancement of color people, that is a major honor and blessing to me. And like the NAACP I know there is as many ways to inspire us as there are shades of us.

I wanted to use my gift, to not only to make us laugh but to make us think. I wanted to use film to not only entertain but to let us know that we don’t have to wait for somebody to green light our projects, we can create our own interceptions. I wanted to use my television show to not only make us laugh but to show us we don’t just have to act in the sitcom, we can own the show and the network. I wanted to use giving and philanthropy to show us that we don’t have to be at the end of the line waiting for a hand out, we can be at the front giving the hand up. And I wanted to own a studio to show us, we don’t have to wait for somebody to give us 40 acres and a mule, we can buy our own.

So I am grateful and I wanted to use my childhood to let everybody know that you can be born into a nightmare but God can usher you into a dream.