During the Critics' Choice Association's celebration of Latino film and television, the star called on artists to take action amid escalating political tensions.
Accepting the Trailblazer Award at the Critics Association's fifth annual Celebration of Latino Film and Television, America Ferrera took the opportunity to call on artists across Hollywood to use the power of storytelling to empower communities “in an era when discourse and conversation fail to create connection, empathy and understanding.”
According to Hollywood Reporter, Barbie the star recalled a conversation with a scholar of the history of authoritarianism who warned that the United States was “moving toward a crisis point in our country and therefore in our world.” Ferrera insisted: “And we [in Hollywood] are not a nice footnote to civil society – we are civil society. Artists and the stories we tell have a role to play in this moment.”
The ceremony took place at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, the city where the Trump administration is based. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the raids caused widespread fear among immigrant communities. Many became too afraid to go about their daily lives and leave their homes—regardless of their legal status, as both immigrants with legal status and U.S. citizens were detained and arrested over the past year.
Ferrera, who was presented with the award by Jamie Lee Curtis, continued: “We have a responsibility to point out not only what we are against, but to create and demonstrate the world we stand for and the world we want to live in; and not portray each other as charity cases, as people who need us to have dignity. We are born with our dignity, and no one can take it away from us.”
She concluded the event by urging those listening to take action. “It's time to find our courage, to find our heroism, to be as brave as the characters we write and as brave as the characters we play, and to stand up and use our voices and use our art—to create art that inspires and evokes the world we want to live in,” Ferrera said.
Per TPPOther industry figures honored on the night included Andy Garcia, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Ramos, Camila Perez, Dolores Huerta, Frida Perez, Gabriel Luna, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Dolores Fonzi and Tonatiuh.
