Viola Davis Makes History At The Emmys

Let’s not bury the lede here: Viola Davis became the first African American to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night.

If you are the type of person who is so inclined to feel things while watching an awards show, you had a lot of opportunities to get emotional during the evening.

here was the moment when Tracy Morgan appeared, looking remarkable just over a year after surviving a tragic car wreck. Not only was he back on his feet to present the biggest award of the night but he was also making jokes about knocking up a bunch of ladies during the after-parties. There was the sight of Jon Hamm, long overlooked for his consistently excellent work on Mad Men, finally making his way to the mic and using his time there to thank, by name, the school parents at John Burroughs in St. Louis who looked after him after his mom died when he was only ten years old. There were the moving acceptance speeches by both Jeffrey Tambor and Jill Soloway of Transparent, urging audiences to be activists for the transgender rights and thanking the transgender community for their inspiration and support.

Wanneer Inside Amy Schumer won Outstanding Variety Sketch Series, Schumer — choked up and maybe not as prepared as she should have been, considering the odds were ever in her favor — said of her series, which leaves no feminist issue unexplored, “This show really fights for what we believe in.” Soloway described the legal protections against..Lees meer