“I deserve this, bye.” Words spoken by one of my favorites, Jo-Issa Rae Diop… or as some of you all better know her, Issa Rae. That quote is the closing line from the speech she gave as she accepted the Women in Film award for “Emerging Entrepreneur”, that can also be found on this blog if you wish to watch the whole speech.
“I grew up being a huge hip-hop fan, and none of my favorite artists are humble. They don’t even know what that means”, Issa says. The speech was written to say the “opposite of what [Issa] would say”, which, to me, was a wonderful choice. I enjoyed this speech because of its satirical nature, making puns at people who act like they did it all themselves, with no outside help. But, the beautiful thing about satire is that it’s just reality dialed up a notch.
In America, we would never expect someone to accept an award and thank themselves for the hard they do/did. It’s almost as if we aren’t allowed to expect accolades and pats on the back for our efforts. What kind of impact does that have on us?
I think that it causes us to not appreciate our own personal labor. Although it’s great to thank those who helped you get there, and you should, at the end of the day let’s realize that whatever project we are working on wouldn’t be where it was without YOU either. The team you worked with to finish a task, whether it be co-workers, your partner at home, or sports team… wouldn’t have been as successful if you were not a part of it.
I want to be the beginning of a new culture where it is okay to appreciate yourself. You put in the long hours, too. You worked through lunch, too. You missed out on some fun memories, too. Thank yourself. Cut yourself some slack.
You deserve it.
Bye.
Originally Published: June 15th, 2019
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