{"id":3424,"date":"2018-05-25T12:01:20","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T16:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=3424"},"modified":"2018-05-25T12:01:20","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T16:01:20","slug":"janet-jackson-first-black-woman-win-icon-award-billboard-music-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2018\/05\/janet-jackson-first-black-woman-win-icon-award-billboard-music-awards.html","title":{"rendered":"Janet Jackson First Black Woman to Win Icon Award at Billboard Music Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2018\/05\/JanetJacksonUnbreakableTourSanFran2015.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-3425\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2018\/05\/JanetJacksonUnbreakableTourSanFran2015.jpg\" alt=\"JanetJacksonUnbreakableTourSanFran2015\" width=\"458\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>Janet Jackson made history on Sunday, May 20, 2018, when she became the first black woman to win the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. Jackson owned the stage with her performances of a number of her hit songs. Among them were \u201cNasty\u201d and \u201cIf.\u201d She was preceded by a video introduction that touched on the social and political importance of her work, especially her albums \u201cControl\u201d and \u201cRhythm Nation 1814.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jackson stepped up to give her acceptance speech. Before she could get more than a few words out, however, her soft spoken words were drowned out by the audience ecstatically chanting \u201cJanet! Janet! Janet!\u201d When the cheers and applause had finally died down, Jackson began her speech. She expressed her thanks for the award and declared that \u201cfor all the challenges, for all our challenges, we live at a glorious moment in history.\u201d Jackson went on to proclaim her solidarity with the #MeToo movement by stating that this was a time when \u201cat long last, women have made it clear that we will no longer be controlled, manipulated or abused. I stand with those women and with those men equally outraged by discrimination who support us in heart and mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the reference to #MeToo, Jackson\u2019s speech took a slightly unexpected turn. \u201cThis is also a moment when our public discourse is loud and harsh,\u201d she said. \u201cMy prayer is that, weary of such noise, we turn back to the source of all calmness. That source, that source is God. Everything we lack, God has in abundance: compassion, sensitivity, patience and a boundless love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jackson\u2019s speech took a few minutes to complete as she was repeatedly interrupted by the audience applauding and cheering her words. Once she did finish, however, she had taken her place beside such legends as Stevie Wonder and Neil Diamond as an Icon award winner.<\/p>\n<p>The 52 year old was far from the only star who made an impression at the Billboard Music Awards. The Chainsmokers and Halsey spoke out about mental health, and Kelly Clarkson brought the audience nearly to tears when she spoke about the recent school shooting in Santa Fe. \u201cI\u2019m so sick of moments of silence,\u201d Clarkson said in reference to a request that she lead a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims. \u201cIt\u2019s not working\u2026Why don\u2019t we do a moment of action? Why don\u2019t we do a moment of change? Why don\u2019t we change what\u2019s happening?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the many causes on display, it was Jackson\u2019s heartfelt words that stayed with many people the longest as she gave thanks to God in the closing words of her speech. \u201cI thank God for giving me the precious energy that lets me live my life as an artist that every single day seeks to expand my capacity to love.\u201d Powerful words from an artist with an awful lot of star power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Janet Jackson made history on Sunday, May 20, 2018, when she became the first black woman to win the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. Jackson owned the stage with her performances of a number of her hit songs. Among them were \u201cNasty\u201d and \u201cIf.\u201d She was preceded by a video&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[798,799,800,801],"class_list":["post-3424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiring-celebrities","tag-award","tag-billboard-music-awards","tag-billboards","tag-first-black-woman"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Janet Jackson First Black Woman to Win Icon Award at Billboard Music Awards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Janet Jackson made history on May 20, 2018, when she became the first black woman to win the Icon Award. Her acceptance speech moved the audience.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2018\/05\/janet-jackson-first-black-woman-win-icon-award-billboard-music-awards.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Janet Jackson First Black Woman to Win Icon Award at Billboard Music Awards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Janet Jackson made history on May 20, 2018, when she became the first black woman to win the Icon Award. Her acceptance speech moved the audience.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2018\/05\/janet-jackson-first-black-woman-win-icon-award-billboard-music-awards.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiration Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-25T16:01:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/files\/2018\/05\/JanetJacksonUnbreakableTourSanFran2015.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephanie Hertzenberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Janet Jackson First Black Woman to Win Icon Award at Billboard Music Awards","description":"Janet Jackson made history on May 20, 2018, when she became the first black woman to win the Icon Award. 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