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.”
Right before leaving the stage, the rap mogul 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, Diddy and Bad Boy Records were celebrated with a star-studded musical tribute that featured performances by Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Lil’ Kim, Busta Rhymes, The Lox, Bryson Tiller, Faith Evans, Shyne and The Maverick City Choir, with Diddy joining his friends on stage.
The tribute included the singles “Come and Talk to Me” remix, “I’m Going Down,” “Victory,” “All About the Benjamins,” “Bad Boyz,” “Hate Me Now,” “Gotta Move On,” “I’ll Be Missing You,” “Pass the Courvoisier Pt. 2,” “I Need A Girl Pt 2” by Jodeci.
Watch the tribute below:
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