America Ferrera urges artists to use their voices, platforms wisely

America Ferrera delivered an impassioned and inspiring speech at the Critics Choice Association’s 5th annual Celebration of Latino Cinema & Television, held Friday in Los Angeles.

The Emmy-winning actor received the Trailblazer Award, presented by The Lost Bus producer Jamie Lee Curtis, and used the moment to reflect on the urgent role of storytelling in a divided world.

“In a day and age where discourse and conversation are failing to create connection and empathy and understanding, the storytelling we do becomes more vital,” Ferrera said, noting that film and television “have the power to transport people outside of their entrenched logic and into their hearts.”

The activist shared that she recently spoke with a scholar who studies authoritarianism and warned that the U.S. is “barreling towards a crisis point.”

She continued, “We [in Hollywood] are not a cute little side note to civil society — we are civil society. Artists and the stories we tell have a role to play in this moment.” 

She urged her peers to be bold and purposeful: “Find our courage, find our heroism, be as brave as the characters we write and as brave as the characters we play and stand up and use our voices and our art — make art that inspires and calls forth the world we want to live in.”

The Critics Choice Association event, which celebrates excellence in Latino film and television, also honoured Andy Garcia, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Ramos, Camila Perez, Dolores Huerta, Frida Perez, Gabriel Luna, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Dolores Fonzi, and Tonatiuh.