By Bisola Bello
How to Get Away With Murder actress, Viola Davis, made history at the 2015 Emmy Awards when she became the first African-American woman to win the award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.
Taking the stage for her first win and nomination, the 50-year-old star quoted Harriet Tubman at the start of her emotional and powerful speech, saying, “In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line. That was Harriet Tubman in the 1800s”
She went on to thank HTGAWM creator, Pete Nowalk, and executive producer, Shonda Rhimes, calling them “people who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black.”
Prior to Kerry Washington’s 2013 nomination for Scandal, the last black woman to be nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series was Cicely Tyson in 1995.
Nigerian- American actress, Uzo Aduba, took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama for her role as Crazy Eyes in the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black, making this her second Emmy win. In 2014, the 34-year-old won the Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
