"The Equalizer" star and Variety's Power of Women honoree addressed the SCOTUS's drafted opinion on May 5 during her acceptance speech. "There's a group of people who are trying to steal our power. Our power to decide what we want for our lives, our families, our future," she said at the event. "My whole life, people have been trying to diminish my power. They've always tried to diminish the power of the woman. It's like what I tell my friends who don't want to vote sometimes. If the vote wasn't worth something, they wouldn't be trying to keep us from voting. I feel the same way about womanhood. If we weren't so powerful, there wouldn't be such a push to keep us in our place."
Latifah also called for people to band together during this time of uncertainty. "I know what it looks like when women don't get along. When we fight against each other. But I also know what it looks like when we do," she added. "When we stand together, there's nothing more potent. There's nothing stronger. There's no level higher, nothing greater, than when we lock arms and decide we want to do something."
