Say what you will about the quality of Tyler Perry’s body of work — and there are a lot of valid critiques to be made on that front — the successful filmmaker’s personal contributions to different social causes and help to those in need are worthy of praise.
At the point when not giving Meghan and Harry refuge from the stifling prison of royal life, he has, in addition to other things: paid for seniors’ groceries; financially helped the families of Black individuals killed by police; and made Camp Quarantine at his production studio, which permitted creatives and artists to keep working during quarantine.
As it’s obvious that on Sunday evening, Perry brought home the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars. The honor is given out periodically to an “individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.” Viola Davis, who teamed up with Perry on the 2009 film Madea Goes to Jail, introduced the award.
In an rousing speech, Perry recounted a tale about aiding a lady in need purchase a couple of shoes, and how it filled in as an lesson in withholding judgement. “I want to take this Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and dedicate it to anyone who wants to stand in the middle,” he concluded, “… because that’s where healing happens, that’s where conversation happens, that’s where change happens. It happens in the middle. So anyone who wants to meet me in the middle, to refuse hate, to refuse blanket judgment, and help lift someone’s feet off the ground, this one’s for you, too.”
