Sean “Diddy” Combs accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at Sunday’s BET Awards and made a pledge to help the Black community by donating $1 million to Howard University.
After thanking God, his mother who was in the audience, and multiple celebrities who helped him get where he is now, the hip-hop mogul said “the time is right now” to make his dream of improving life for African Americans a reality.
The rapper and producer also thanked Howard by saying “you all know I wouldn’t be here without Howard University,” before saying “HU!” as the audience yelled back “you know.”
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Diddy then issued a call for Black people to come together.
“I got this new dream. I got this dream of Black people being free. I got this new dream of us controlling our own destiny,” Diddy said as he closed his eyes on stage and spread his arms out. “I got this dream of us taking accountability and to stop killing each other. I got this dream of us being rich and wealthy and living on the same block.”
He urged allies to “put some money in the game” because “we at war.”
Right before leaving the stage, Diddy mentioned the Howard donation and pledged another $1 million to Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, an HBCU where Deion Sanders is head coach of the football team.
Diddy attended Howard, an HBCU in Washington, D.C., for two years before dropping out to focus on his budding music career. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in humanities by the university.
Before his speech on Sunday, he was celebrated during a star-studded musical tribute that included Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Lil’ Kim, Busta Rhymes, The Lox, Bryson Tiller, Faith Evans, Shyne and The Maverick City Choir.
Watch Diddy’s full speech below:
