Michelle Obama honors Beyoncé at politics-filled BET Awards

Beyoncé on Sunday night spoke out in support of Black Lives Matter protesters and called on all those watching to vote while accepting a BET Award presented to her by former first lady Michelle Obama.

Obama at the virtual BET Awards introduced Beyoncé, who was receiving the Humanitarian Award, as "the queen," praising her as someone whose music "gives voice to Black joy and Black pain" and whose activism "demands justice for Black lives."

"She's always turning up, looking out, and making us all a little bit better," Obama said. "A little more fierce. And she's doing it all while staying devoted to her children, and the loved ones she holds dear. So to my girl, I just want to say, you inspire me. You inspire all of us."

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Beyoncé in her speech dedicated the award to those "marching and fighting for change" amid the protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.

"Your voices are being heard, and you're proving to our ancestors that their struggles were not in vain," she said. "Now, we have one more thing we need to do to walk in our true power, and that is to vote. I'm encouraging you to continue to take action, continue to change and dismantle a racist and unequal system. We have to continue to do this together."

Beyoncé added that during local elections and primaries, "there are people banking on us staying at home," but "we have to vote like our life depends on it, because it does."