Jodie Turner-Smith Had a Powerful & Inspiring Message For Women at the 2022 Equality Now Gala
Jodie Turner-Smith is using her platform for good. During the 2022 Equality Now Gala, an event that celebrated the organization’s tireless work in achieving gender equality, the actress delivered an emotional and inspiring speech about the power of women and girls in their fight for justice.
“We’re all here because we share a common desire: to make the world a better place for women and girls,” Turner-Smith began, wearing a gorgeous festive plaid suit.
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Turner-Smith continued, expressing the frustration and sadness she felt reading the news this year. “There are so many instances in which I read the news that make me want to burst into tears,” she admitted. “One of them being most recently when I read about Iranian teenager Nika Shakarami who was found dead hours after burning her hijab in anti-regime protests. I cried when I watched the video of her singing, seeing the beauty of her light and her joy knowing that all of that life had been extinguished far too soon all because of her fight to have agency.”
“I wept,” the mom of one continued. “I wept in June when I heard the news that the United States of America’s supreme court had overturned Roe versus Wade, something I never expected to see in my lifetime.”
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The Anne Boleyn star continued, “Sometimes it feels so frustrating, so unfair that all I want to do is cry –and that’s okay. Sometimes you just have to cry. But I do not view tears as weakness. Our patriarchal society will have you believe that weeping is a weakness, but I know it’s my greatest strength.”
“The only way out is through,” she explained, “through the tears of pain, lies the power of transformation.”
“I know it because I have seen it, I saw it while I gave birth,” Turner-Smith, who shares 2-year-old daughter Janie with husband Joshua Jackson, recalled. “When I ushered my daughter’s soul into this world, through tears the maiden in me died and the mother in me was born.”
The actress continued, “We have all seen it in each of the women that have stood for us and held us and protected us and paved our way. Our grief pushes us to make the world before us better, to fight with tears with tears in our eyes and fire in our bellies. Because we have to, because we must, because our lives depend on it and the lives of the women who will come after us depend on it too.”
During her red carpet appearance for the event, Turner-Smith also shared some touching remarks. “To me this is what it’s all about,” she said of working with Equality Now, which was celebrating its 30th anniversary. “Using my platform to in any way amplify this work, to participate in this work, there’s some really great work being done by Equality Now and I’m so happy to just be here amongst it and I can’t wait to do more and more and more.”
Turner-Smith also said that she’s “optimistic” about the future. “I see a lot of things in the generation beneath us that inspires me and has me thinking that the girls and the women in the generation coming up are not going to stand for what is happening right now,” she said.
The actress also shared her ultimate dream: “In 30 years what I really hope for is that child marriage is abolished. If I could see this difference, that would be a great place to get to because I think that could open the door for a lot.”
Turner-Smith was one of the many inspirational speakers of the night. Do Revenge star Maya Hawke, authors Sarah Cooper and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and actress Meryl Streep all had their time during the gala to share their stories, honor the organization, and encourage others in their next steps. The night’s honorees included Alanis Morissette, Annie Lennox, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, Ruth Bader Ginsburg among many others. What an incredible cause with an equally incredible guest list!
Before you go, click here to read more inspiring quotes from influential Black women.
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