Viola Davis just made history.
The star of How to Get Away with Murder is the first black woman to win the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama. The newly-minted winner spent the majority of her speech (the entirety of which is transcribed below) talking about diversity.
"The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity," she said during her acceptance speech. "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there."
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She started her speech with a quote from Harriet Tubman: "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."
Davis paid homage to several other black actresses in her speech as well, mentioning Henson, Kerry Washington and Meagan Good as well as How to Get Away with Murder executive producer Shonda Rhimes.
Davis beat out Taraji P. Henson, Claire Danes, Tatiana Maslany, Elisabeth Moss and Robin Wright for the award. Despite strong competition from Henson on Empire and Mad Men star Moss, Davis was a frontrunner for the award thanks to her raw, complex portrayal of genius lawyer Annalise Keating.
Earlier in the evening, she served as a presenter -- prompting this flub from ABC. (Davis has been nominated for two Oscars, but hasn't yet won one.)
Uh, @TheEmmys, Viola Davis has not won an Oscar. YET. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/l37lQMBVWL— Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) September 21, 2015
Here's the full transcript of Davis's speech:
"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. And let me tell you something. The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there. So here's to all the writers, the awesome people that are Ben Sherwood, Paul Lee, Peter Nowalk, Shonda Rhimes, people who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black. And to the Taraji P. Hensons, the Kerry Washingtons, the Halle Berrys, the Nicole Beharies, the Meagan Goods. To Gabrielle Union. Thank you for taking us over that line. Thank you to the Television Academy. Thank you."