Ava DuVernay has added a new award to her list of achievements. The filmmaker and producer took home the Best Family Series award at The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation's 47th Annual Gracie Awards on Tuesday (May 23).
The event, which took place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, was hosted by Holly Robinson Peete.
The award was given to DuVernay for her Peacock reality show Home Sweet Home. According to Variety, she used her address to discuss the recent mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas primary school, the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin, and the war in Ukraine.
"Telling these tales is extremely crucial because the stories we tell each other matter," DuVernay added. "If we can write stories that allow us to see each other in the most intimate areas in the ways that we genuinely are, maybe we can prevent shootings, mass shootings, and police shootings."
"Perhaps we should protect each other so that we don't kneel on people's necks," she continued. Perhaps we might protect each other so that we don't have to go to war in different countries at the same time. That's what narrative accomplishes: it allows us to see, comprehend, and empathize with one another."
Angie Martinez, Tamron Hall, Melissa McCarthy, Kelly Clarkson, Elle Fanning, Savannah Guthrie & Hoda Kotb, Kaitlyn Dever, Ellen K, and Dana Cortez received special recognition during the program.
"We've witnessed a lot of great projects by and about inspirational women over the last year," said Becky Brooks, President of the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, in a press release.
"We are thrilled to shed a light on these remarkable women, whose stories have raised cultural awareness and provided entertainment that has made us laugh, weep, and feel everything in between." We'll be back at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel this year, and we're excited to get back to an in-person format so that we can really celebrate together."