This past Monday, February 17, 2025, I had the opportunity to attend ABFF Honors in Los Angeles, California. ABFF Honors, presented by Cadillac, is the American Black Film Festival’s annual awards season gala dedicated to recognizing excellence in the motion picture and television industry. I’m grateful to have been a guest for several years back to back and the celebration of Black joy, Black excellence, and Black Hollywood is unparalleled. But this year, the impact was different. With honorees like “Nickel Boys” star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, “One of Those Days” star Keke Palmer, “Captain America” star Giancarlo Esposito, “Mufasa” star Aaron Pierre, and queen among queens, THE Marla Gibbs, how could it not be? But, it wasn’t just that. Cadillac brought even more excitement to the evening with the stunning ESCALADE IQ, seamlessly blending innovation with legacy, and even further showcased their commitment to excellence — much like the honorees of the night! The future of Black Hollywood and automotive luxury, under one roof!
I don’t know about y’all, but 2025 has been weighing me down since November of 2024….As a wife, mother, Los Angeleno (but a native Texan), and the founder of Black Love, I was anxious about what the new year would bring. But with some optimism, I was ready for my three sons to get back to school and for me to get back to the year round work of uplifting my community through Black Love. But on January 8, one day into the second semester for my two kindergartners and third grader, the entire county of Los Angeles was overcome with anxiety and grief as unprecedented winds caused wildfires, which left more than 10,000 structures destroyed and countless lives changed forever. This was especially true in the city of Altadena, a community with a large, long-tenured Black population. Y’all haven’t been under a rock, so you know this.
The California wildfires left a Black community devasted and my kids out of school for three weeks (if you’re a parent reading this, you know this is not a small thing). I was SPENT and resigned myself to believe there was no light at the end of this tunnel.
So WHAT WAS I THINKING?? ABFF Honors was exactly where I needed to be this February, celebrating Black history in the making and Black love in all forms.
When I arrived, a gorgeous first-ever, all-electric 2025 ESCALADE IQ greeted me. When I see Cadillac, I see culture. I mean, the company is mentioned in more than 3000 songs, many of which are Hip Hop and R&B songs, from Bruno Mars to Victoria Monet to Big Boi. The only thing more stunning was the diverse representation of Black love on the blue carpet and on stage. Larenz Tate and his wife of 18 years, Tomasina, said their favorite form of Black Love is family. They are parents to four sons. Lisa Raye said motherly love was her favorite, with her adorable grandaughter in tow. Kelvin Harrison said of his “Mufasa” co-star and ABFF Honors Rising Star awardee, Aaron Pierre, that their brotherhood is meaningful to him. “He sees me and I know I’ll always have him.” The joy among the literal and play family was palpable and the event hadn’t even started.
The ceremony was full of especially Black moments, ignited by a powerful performance by Altadena’s own Victory Bible Church Choir. Host Zainab Johnson opened by giving every honoree their flowers, leaving everyone blushing. While accepting the Rising Star award, presented by Cadillac, Aaron Pierre did THE dance arriving on stage accompanied by a live band rendition of “Aaron Pierre, that’s Mufasa,” just after telling Zainab he isn’t tired of the attention yet. He followed by thanking God and his grandmother for who he is as an actor and man. (Um, swoon.) Regina King surprised everyone by showing up to honor her on-screen mother from “227,” Marla Gibbs, who shared that she has been calling Regina her daughter ever since. In accepting her award as the Renaissance honoree, a grateful Keke Palmer gave voice to what I was feeling. She described the feeling of being in that room together and celebrating together, amidst all of this darkness as something that “cannot be explained.”
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Captain America himself, Anthony Mackie, doted on Giancarlo Esposito, “a legend” of his who he begged the studio to secure as his nemesis in the latest installment of the Marvel series. Finally, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor accepted her award for Excellence in the Arts, in part by highlighting the impact of Esposito’s role in “Do The Right Thing.” As he notably said in the film, “Mook, why ain’t there any Black people on the wall.” Aunjanue shared that it took her years to appreciate that line differently.
“The message of that film was bigger than the pictures on the wall,” she said. “The problem was not with the picture. The problem was with the wall, the structure that the wall was in. This is why these messages of another seat at the table is deaf to me. I am not interested in no seat at no table. I don’t want the seat or the table. I want the structure. I want the land that the structure is on. Why? Because it’s mine.”
The entire night was a reminder of how powerful the Black community is when we get together. The evening, powered by Cadillac, a company who has supported ABFF and Black excellence for 29 years, provided a necessary boost of warmth, hope, and a reminder of the Black joy that exists in us even when it feels like everything is against us. Make sure you take time to celebrate and love on your community, wherever you are. We need it more than ever.
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