--- title: Time 100: Viola Davis Gives Gala Toast description: Viola Davis, one of the members of the 2017 TIME 100, delivered a moving toast at the TIME 100 gala Tuesday night. Watch highlights here canonical: https://time.com/4752397/time-100-gala-viola-davis-toast/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-26T04:16:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:47:28.591Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Watch Viola Davis' Powerful Toast at the TIME 100 Gala og:description: She spoke at the annual event featuring the world's most influential people og:url: https://time.com/4752397/time-100-gala-viola-davis-toast/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fe177a34762bd16/6988ca9d196cf4310003fd54/viola-davis-time-100-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1707 og:image:height: 960 og:image:alt: Landon Nordeman for TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Viola Davis' Powerful Toast at the TIME 100 Gala twitter:description: She spoke at the annual event featuring the world's most influential people twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fe177a34762bd16/6988ca9d196cf4310003fd54/viola-davis-time-100-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Viola Davis' Powerful Toast at the TIME 100 Gala > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Viola Davis Toasts The 2017 Time 100 Gala [Watch (HLS stream): Viola Davis Toasts The 2017 Time 100 Gala](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DMLp5DHI.m3u8) (4:23)  _Published 2017-04-26. Viola Davis gives a toast at the 2017 TIME 100 Gala._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 26, 2017 4:16 AM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 26, 2017 4:16 AM UTC [Viola Davis](http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4736294/viola-davis/), one of the members of the [2017 TIME 100](http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/), gave a moving toast at the TIME 100 Gala Tuesday night. “Everybody in this room, I’m sure at some point, has gone through something in their lives, and you survived it,” Davis said. “But not only did you survive it, you took that trauma, and that hurt, that revelation, or whatever it was, and you used it to connect, to give, to influence, to help, and that is the beauty and the purpose of what we are here on this Earth to do.” Davis — who stars in _How to Get Away With Murder_ and [won an Oscar](http://time.com/4683341/oscars-2017-viola-davis-speech/?iid=sr-link2) this year for her role in _Fences_, based on August Wilson’s play of the same name — shared a story of when she traveled to Gambia when she was studying at Juilliard. Davis said she was on a compound of the Mandinka tribe when women called “Kenyala,” who were infertile, performed a ritual where hundreds of people would gather and scream and sing. “These women felt like the only reason why they weren’t blessed with a child is because God did not hear their wish,” Davis said. ” And so the whole point of the ritual was to make as much noise as possible so God could hear them, and pour down the blessing.” ## Transcript When I was 25, I went to Juilliard, right next door, not a very good experience by the way, and I remember at one point, I felt like I lost my voice as an artist. I said, who am I really? you know, what am I doing here? How am I going to be different from everyone else? I decided to go on a cultural art safari in Africa, I made Julliard pay for it. I went to the Gambia, and I went to a compound Of the Mandinka tribe. And one day, there were these groups of women called Kenyala who came into the compound, Mandinka women. They were dressed in oversized clothes, and they had paint on their faces. And they carried drums And they were shouting really, really loudly and making really funny faces, and they had calabashes filled with this dish that tasted like peanut flavored oatmeal. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] And they just got louder and louder, and they passed the calabash around. To everybody in the compound. And more and more people started yelling and screaming with them, to the point where they were falling over each other. Hundreds of people, children even. And they pass the Calabash, plopped the food in their mouths, look up to the sky, scream, scream, scream. And they'd sing this song that translated into, I did not come here for food. My stomach is full. I did not come here for food. I came for much more than that. And I was wondering who these women were and I found out that they were actually women. Who were infertile. And in the Gambia, the biggest blessing you could possibly have is to be able to have a child. And this women felt like the only reason why they weren't blessed with a child is because God did not hear their wish. And so the whole point of the ritual was to make as much noise as possible so God could hear them and pour down the blessing. The beauty of that ritual was that it was actually a ritual. An actual something that they could do to get what they wanted in their lives. The beauty of that ritual was the participation. The beauty of that ritual was the people who were surrounding these women who said, you know what, God didn't hear you. Did not see you. And I'm gonna make sure that He does. I'm gonna do my part in your life to make sure that He, She, hears you. And that is the beauty of everybody in this room. In the words of Thomas Merton, perhaps we're stronger than we think. That everybody in this room, I'm sure at some point has gone through something in their lives and you've survived it, but not only did you survive it, you took that trauma, that hurt, that revelation or whatever it was and you used it to connect, to give, to influence. To help and that is the beauty and the purpose of what we are here on this Earth to do. So for me, I lift the glass to everyone in this room. Everyone who has decided to lived a life bigger than yourself. Everyone who decided to slay those dragons and say it's not just about me. And I applaud you and I am honored to be in this room with you, thank you. 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