Pink gave an inspirational speech as she accepted the 2019 People’s Choice Champion Award on Sunday, November 10, for her philanthropic work.
“It is an absolute honor to be getting this award for the People’s Champion. I looked up People’s Champion and Rocky Balboa came up, which I thought was fitting because I’m from around Philadelphia, and I like to wear sweatpants, and I like to fight people,” she said as she took the stage. “I grew up in a family of activists and boxers, actually, come to think of it. But I know that one person can make a difference.
“You feel that you don’t matter, that your life doesn’t matter? Get involved,” she continued. “You can’t tell me Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Gloria Steinem, Anita Hill, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Malala Yousafszi, Greta Thunberg — tell me one person can’t make a difference. I am a dumbass derelict from Doylestown and I have managed to change a little part in my little world.”
“There is so much to be done,” Pink said. “I don’t care about your politics; I care about your kids. I care about decency and humanity and kindness. Kindness today is an act of rebellion. There are people who don’t have what you have, help them get it. There is a planet that needs help. It feels good to help. It feels powerful to help. Stop fighting each other and help each other. Get together with your friends and change the f–king world.”
The singer, 40, was honored for her support of organizations like Make-a-Wish, No Kid Hungry and Planned Parenthood. She has also been an ambassador for UNICEF since 2015.
Pink, who shares two kids, Willow, 8, and Jameson, 2, with husband Carey Hart, has been outspoken in her activism, even taking her kids with her when she attended the Women’s March in Los Angeles in January 2017.
In February 2018, her daughter followed in her mom’s footsteps and sold candy backstage at Pink’s tour rehearsals to raise money for Haiti.
“Willz and her friend Gracie wanted to do some charity work. So they bought bulk candy and set up a table in catering at mama @pink rehearsal Hall,” Hart, 44, captioned a photo of his daughter at the time. “They are donating the money to #Haiti —-. Good work ladies, doing your part. #DontTellTrump.”
Pink has spoken before about being a role model to her daughter. In 2017, she gave a powerful speech dedicated to her eldest child at the MTV Video Music Awards while accepting the Video Vanguard Award.
“Recently I was driving my daughter to school, and she said to me, out of the blue, ‘Mama … I am the ugliest girl I know.’ And I said, ‘Huh?’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, I look like a boy with long hair.’ And my brain went to, ‘Oh, my god. You are 6. Why? Where is this coming from? Who said this? Can I kick a 6-year-old’s ass?’ But I didn’t say anything,” she said. “Instead I went home, and I made a PowerPoint presentation for her. And in that presentation were androgynous rock stars and artists that live their truth, are probably made fun of every day of their lives, and carry on and wave their flag, and inspire the rest of us. These are artists like Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Annie Lennox, Prince, Janis Joplin, George Michael, Elton John, so many artists.”
“Then I said, ‘I really want to know why you feel this way about yourself.’ She said, ‘I look like a boy.’ I said, ‘What do you think I look like?’ She said, ‘Well, you are beautiful.’ I was like, ‘Well, thanks. But when people make fun of me, that’s what they use. They say that I look like a boy, or I am too masculine, too many opinions, my body is too strong,’” the “What About Us” singer continued. “And I said to her, ‘Do you see me growing my hair?’ She said, ‘No, Mama.’ I said, ‘Do you see me changing my body?’ ‘No, Mama.’ ‘Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world?’ ‘No, Mama.’ ‘Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world?’ ‘Yes, Mama.’ That’s right. So, baby girl, we don’t change, we take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl. We help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty. … And you, my darling girl, are beautiful. And I love you.”
