Dave Chappelle, Kamala Harris Discuss ‘Tough Instances’ at NAACP Picture Awards, Deon Cole Blasts Ye

Comic Cole set the stage on the prime of the present with a hilarious prayer concerning the artist previously often known as Kanye West and his oft-unclad spouse Bianca Censori.

“Lord, we ask you to bless Kanye West and canopy him. He went from making great beats to swastika t-shirts, and Lord, we simply need you to cowl our brother Kanye,” he mentioned.

He then added, completely in cadence, “And whilst you’re masking him, cowl his spouse too, Lord. She’s been very bare down right here. Bless her with a shawl, or a bow tie, or a ribbon or one thing!”

Whereas they had been the topic of the host’s consideration on the NAACP Picture Awards, West and Censori had been attending an occasion of their very own, in keeping with TMZ, within the type of a movie that purportedly stars Censori and … not a lot in the way in which of scarves, bow ties, or ribbons.

In a reversal of how she often attire, although, Censori arrived on the occasion in a glance impressed by a nun’s behavior, however one which coated her totally. As in, TMZ had a supply who claimed to have seen the girl’s face briefly (and that it was Censori), however couldn’t affirm definitively.

Whereas she was coated up in actual life, the movie purportedly explores the feminine physique, and so attendees on the occasion in a Koreatown warehouse nonetheless noticed loads of her curves and pores and skin earlier than the evening was by.

In the meantime, again throughout city, extra critical issues had been being mentioned on the Pasadena Civic Auditorium as former Vice President Kamala Harris made her first televised look since dropping the presidency to Donald Trump.

Accepting the Chairman’s Award, Harris spoke concerning the genesis of the NAACP, which she mentioned “got here into being at a second when our nation struggled with greed, bitterness and hatred.”

She mentioned the founders “had no illusions concerning the forces they had been up in opposition to — no illusions about how stony the street could be,” suggesting that the stony street continues to be forward.

“Some have a look at this second and rightly really feel the load of historical past,” she mentioned of 2025 in America within the early weeks of Trump’s second presidential time period. “Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy, and ask, ‘What can we do now?’”

“However we all know precisely what to do,” she argued, “as a result of we now have carried out it earlier than, and we’ll do it once more.”

She known as for everybody to make use of the facility of training, grassroots, organizations, and mobilizing advocacy. “Our energy has by no means come from having a simple path,” she instructed the viewers.

“Our power flows from our religion — religion in God, religion in one another, and our refusal to give up to cynicism and destruction,” she insisted. “Not as a result of it’s simple, however as a result of it’s mandatory. Not as a result of victory is assured, however as a result of the combat is value it.”

She mentioned that historical past is not going to simply be written by “whoever occupies the Oval Workplace, nor by the wealthiest amongst us.” As an alternative, she mentioned will probably be written by strange Americans, “by us, by we the folks.”

The vp’s phrases had been met with a convincing applause and standing ovation, which is the vitality that Dave Chappelle walked into shortly after when he took the stage. The comic was available to simply accept the group’s President’s Award.

Like Harris, Chappelle marked the importance of the group behind this second. “I received numerous awards lately, however this one tonight might be essentially the most particular award I’ve ever gotten,” he mentioned, “as a result of it’s from this establishment that represents these folks, us, folks of shade, black folks.”

He talked concerning the “hideous depiction of African Individuals” within the 1915 movie Start of a Nation resulting in the opening of the primary NAACP Hollywood workplace in 1927. “And from then, 100 years in the past to this very evening, they’ve been chipping away at this trade.”

He mentioned that work has allowed artists like him to inform their tales, and that each time somebody does, “we simply maintain chipping away at this monster of a machine.”

“However tonight, man, tonight, I really feel invigorated as a result of all my Netflix checks cleared,” he joked, pivoting to extra critical matters, and echoing a few of Harris’ sentiments — whereas additionally by no means naming anybody within the Trump administration straight.

“I hope all of us who work on this trade really feel robust and impressed and never discouraged, particularly as a result of it is a very troublesome time proper now,” he mentioned. “And your establishment is, sadly, extra related than it’s been in a very long time.”

“We acquired numerous work to do, nevertheless it feels good to know that we’re not in it alone, that we acquired one another,” he added. “And keep in mind, neighborhood is all the things.”

He shared condolences to all those that’ve misplaced their properties, alluding to the Los Angeles wildfires and different pure disasters, and closed with a message from his father about that neighborhood.

“Do not be afraid to lean on one another,” he mentioned, revealing a phrase his father taught him that he mentioned he is carried with him all through his life and profession.

“He mentioned, Everytime you mess up otherwise you really feel like you possibly can’t stand up. He mentioned, You keep in mind these phrases as a result of they’re magic phrases,” Chappelle shared. “And I mentioned, ‘What’s the phrases, Dad?’ And he mentioned, ‘Whoops, let’s maintain it transferring.’”

“Y’all, let’s maintain it transferring.”