VH1 Tune in tonight at 9/8c to catch VH1's Trailblazer Honors, which is honoring women who have dedicated their time and commitments to furthering the women's movement.
Trailblazer Honors airs tonight at 9/8c on VH1. The ceremony is meant to celebrate today’s “most respected politicians, entertainers, artists, activists, allies and icons who have dedicated their time and steadfast commitments to the women’s movement and beyond,” VH1 explained.
With the Trailblazer Awards taking place on International Women’s Day this year, the ceremony is dedicated to some of the world’s most prominent and powerful women who have dedicated their time and commitments to furthering the women’s movement, and is “centered around this year’s incredible breakthroughs in female empowerment and human rights,” VH1 reports.
Some of the women being honored this evening include activist Tarana Burke, who founded the #MeToo movement, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to be elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, writer, director and producer Ava DuVernay, who was the first highest grossing African-American woman director in box-office history, and author Margaret Atwood, the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Several clips from tonight’s show have already begun to circulate online, including a clip of Cher introducing Pelosi with powerful praise, as well of bits of Pelosi’s speech, where the Speaker celebrated the election of more than 100 women to the United States Congress. Cher slammed President Donald Trump during her opening speech, while at the same time praising Pelosi for being a “fighter” who “won’t back down.”
“Since the day our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, our country has been run almost exclusively by old white men. Thankfully because of Nancy and other strong women, this is changing,” Cher said in a preview for the event, which can be viewed above. “Nancy is a fighter. She won’t back down. She muscled through the Affordable Care Act and she isn’t afraid to go to-to-toe with a bully and beat him at his own game.”
She continued: “When I see Trump spew his hatred and tell his gazillion lies, I get pissed off, but I also feel really uneasy. Then I see Nancy come on TV and I think, ‘It’s all good, Nancy is in the house.’”
A clip of Pelosi’s speech can also be viewed below, and shows Pelosi honoring the women who were elected to congress, while celebrating the Women’s Rights movement and encouraging viewers to keep fighting to end sexual assault and discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
“As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we celebrate a special milestone for America, the election of more than 100 women to the United States Congress,” the speaker said.
“The Democratic House is fighting to deliver progress for women and all Americans. These women are fighting to secure paycheck fairness, because every person deserves equal pay for equal work. And we’re fighting for a woman’s right to choose every single day. We’re fighting to end the scourge of sexual harassment and assault on women in our country because there is no issue that is not a women’s issue. And we’re fighting to pass the Equality Act because we want to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community every place in our community.”
Tune in tonight at 9/8c to catch VH1’s Trailblazer Honors, and follow @VH1 on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and use #TrailblazerHonors to join the conversation and see highlights from tonight’s show.
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