Rita Moreno.Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty
Rita Morenois reflecting on her career as a woman of color in Hollywood, calling the experience a “continuous journey.”
“I’m feeling both inspired and exhilarated given my background, and not feeling powerful is a very significant reality growing up as a young Latina in a racist, patriarchal society,” Moreno began her speech, telling the audience, “I honestly couldn’t even imagine what [power] might’ve felt like.”
Moreno, who is widely regarded as one of the best entertainers of her generation, said her “dreams of becoming a successful actress” felt “so far out of reach” while growing up as “a five-year-old zig-zagging the mean streets of El Barrio trying to avoid the gangs on my way to school,” or later in life, “as an aspiring actress … fending off unwanted and terrifying advances from a number of studio executives.”
Rita Moreno.
While she was told to look up to and listen to men — her mother once said to her, “[Men] are always right, so be nice to them because they know everything and you don’t know nothing. They can make things happen for you” — Moreno explained that she “had to find inner strength” on her own.
“But it is part of a continuous journey and I am still a traveler along that road,” she admitted. “Tenacity and perseverance are key qualities that I happily found developing through the years of struggles and triumphs.”
TheWest Side Storyactress also used her speech to shed light on current issues like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, describing our modern day as “dreadfully dark,” but calling on women to “be vigilant” despite the circumstances.
Silver Screen Collection/Getty
Describing “a divided America,” Moreno decried the “politicization” of both masks and vaccines, and slammed the ideas that “climate change is science fiction” and health care isn’t “a basic human right.”
Still, she maintained an optimistic view of the future.
source: people.com
