Doechii’s Award Acceptance
Following her first-ever BET Award win on Monday night, Doechii powerfully utilized her acceptance speech platform at the Peacock Theater. Significantly, she expressed feeling a deep “responsibility as an artist” to directly acknowledge the intense immigration protests and concerning raids unfolding across Los Angeles at that very moment.
Turning to the urgent situation, Doechii specifically referenced the demonstrations taking place just outside the venue in Downtown Los Angeles, home to the Peacock Theater. She stated clearly, “I do want to address what’s happening right now, outside the building,” characterizing the government’s actions as violent attacks creating widespread fear and chaos within local communities. Subsequently, she strongly criticized former President Trump’s involvement, explaining that military forces were being mobilized under the banner of “law and order” to halt these protests. Finally, she urged the audience and viewers to critically reflect, asking them to consider the nature of a government that consistently deploys military might against its own citizens whenever they exercise their fundamental democratic right to protest.
Protest Context
Meanwhile, California National Guard troops actually entered Los Angeles on Sunday, creating a major show of military force downtown. This deployment directly followed visible division between federal immigration agents and local protesters, occurring simultaneously alongside a rapidly growing legal and political battle between the State of California and the Trump administration. Importantly, these significant protests initially erupted on Friday. Just right after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers had completed their targeted raids in three different places in Los Angeles. Many people were arrested as a result; the NBC News says that scores of people were taken into custody during those operations eliciting wide community outrage and protests outside the awards location.
Doechii’s Call for Unity
Furthermore, within her powerful speech, Doechii firmly pledged to actively use her influential voice to stand up for, as she explicitly stated, “all oppressed people, for Black people, for Latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza.” She then powerfully questioned the government’s harsh actions, demanding, “What type of government is that? People are being swept up and torn from their families?” Subsequently, she passionately declared a universal right for everyone to live securely, stating, “We all deserve to live in hope and not in fear.” Finally, she issued a direct, heartfelt plea for collective action: “And I hope we stand together my brothers and my sisters against hate and we protest against it,” uniting the audience behind this crucial message of resistance.
Adding to that, Doechii’s name was among the female hip-hop figures who took the fabled BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, which was her first time to win the prize in the said category. The award was presented with a field of nominees that were all remarkably strong. In fact, other than Doechii, there were also Cardi B, Doja Cat, GloRilla, Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Rapsody, and Sexyy Red who were all ladies that the world of contemporary female hip-hop is proud of, just to show the depth of skill in the genre. It clearly indicated that her win was really a remarkable achievement. It was a victory that went beyond these exceptional companions during the event.
