Janelle Monáe accepted the SeeHer award at the Critics' Choice Awards on Sunday, and her speech was powerful.

According to People, she began by stating that her pronouns are "she/her, they/them, free-ass MF."

The actress said, "I have ...... in my work. I make an effort to highlight those who are relegated to the margins of society, shunned, or relegated to the "others."

"This is a deeply personal choice for me, having grown up with working-class parents: my mother was a janitor, my father a garbage collector, and my grandmother a small farmer in Aberdeen, Mississippi. And I am non-binary and queer because my identity influences my decisions and work"

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Monáe also admitted that they were not always so confident in their abilities, and more recently in their talent, which was obvious to all.

"There have been many times in my life when I didn't feel like I was me. [I couldn't see my light. I couldn't get over my circumstances. If you know my story, I wasn't supposed to come here tonight from Kansas City. I wasn't."

She added: "I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what my talents were. I didn't know what my purpose should be at that time. But thank you, God. Despite my lack of confidence, they did not give up on me and gave me a chance. I kept faking it until I succeeded."

The takeaway from Monáe's speech was, "So to those like me who are watching now, know that I am watching you, but I challenge you to watch."

Sounds like pretty solid advice to me.