Sheryl Lee Ralph Bursts Into Song as She's Honored for 30 Years of AIDS Activism

etonline.com:

Sheryl Lee Ralph is making a habit of breaking into song during acceptance speeches and getting standing ovations! The star attended the Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS at West Hollywood Park on Thursday night, where she was honored with the Elizabeth Taylor Commitment to End AIDS Award, fresh off her historic Emmys win.Ralph turned up at the fundraising gala accompanied by her two children and  co-star, Lisa Ann Walter.

The 65-year-old accepted the award for her 30 years of activist work in fighting the AIDS epidemic through her DIVA Foundation, which mounted the longest-running annual HIV/AIDS and health awareness benefit concerts in the United States.When she made her way onstage, Ralph broke out into song, singing «Endangered Species» by Dianne Reeves, which she previously sang during her Emmys acceptance speech to thunderous applause.She opens her speech just like at the Emmys by belting out “Endangered Species.” The crowd loved it.

pic.twitter.com/AvpDVjumWw«The truths are not easy and 40 years later people want to act like it didn't happen, but it did happen.

It was horrible. It was ugly, and it was America. And it spread to the rest of the world,» Ralph said while accepting her award onstage. «And when you used your voice to speak up, people wanted to tell you, 'You need to shut up.' Nobody wants to hear about that, even those who were infected told you, 'This is not your fight, stop it, you will make it worse for us,' and because some people did not use their voice, did not speak up, were silent, it has become, and still is, horrible for all of us.»«Forty years later, AIDS in America is still here.