On Saturday, March 26, Chadwick Boseman‘s widow Simone Ledward Boseman accepted his NAACP Image Award for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and shared a powerful message in honor of her late husband’s legacy.
“Thank you NAACP Image Awards for always giving him his flowers,” Simon said, speaking virtually at the event. “He was an uncommon artist and an even more uncommon person. But the manner in which we lost him is not uncommon at all. Not in our community.”
The Black Panther actor died last August at the age of 43 after a private battle with cancer, shocking fans and his peers in Hollywood alike.
“Black people in this country are 20 percent more likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and 40 percent more likely to die from it,” Simone continued. “The age for routine screening has recently been lowered to 45 so if you are 45 years of age or older, please get screened. Don’t put it off any longer, please get screened.”