Chadwick Boseman Tribute to Denzel Washington | AFI 2019 | TNT

Ladies and gentlemen, Chadwick Boseman. I know personally that your generosity extends past what you have given on the stage and screen. Many of you already know the story that Mr. Washington, when asked by Phylicia Rashad to join her in assisting nine theater students from Howard University who had been accepted to a summer acting program at the British Academy of Dramatic Acting in Oxford, he gracefully and privately agreed to contribute. As fate would have it, I was one of the students that he paid for. Imagine receiving the letter that your tuition for that summer was paid for and that your benefactor was none other than the dopest actor on the planet. I have no doubt that there are similar stories at Boys and Girls Clubs and theaters and churches across the country where I know you have also inspired and motivated others. An offering from a sage and a king is more than silver and gold. It is a seed of hope, a bud of faith. There is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington. And not just because of me, but my whole cast, that generation stands on your shoulders. The daily battles won, the thousand territories gained, the many sacrifices you made for the culture on film sets through your career, the things you refused to compromise along the way laid the blueprints for us to follow. And so now, let he who has watered be watered. Let he who has given be given, too. It is an honor to now know you, to learn from you, and join in this work with you. May God bless you exceedingly and abundantly more in what's in store than he ever has before. God bless you.