Jesse Williams receives a standing ovation for his powerful speech at the BET Awards

It was one of the most powerful speeches of the last decade.

The Black Entertainment Television awards were on last night, which recognise African Americans excelling in their fields such as acting, music, sports and other areas of entertainment. Stars such as Alicia Keys, Janelle Monae and Jennifer Hudson were in attendance, however, it is the speech by Grey's Anatomy actor Jesse Williams that has got everyone talking. The 34-year-old actor, producer and activist was given the Humanitarian Award for his activism within the Black Lives Matter movement. The CEO of the BET awards Debra Lee presented him with the award for his outstanding humanitarian work, following the release of his documentary Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement and his long history of campaigning for the civil rights of African-American people. The actor arrives on stage thanking people for his award, praising his parents, his wife Aryn Drake-Lee and the black women of America who nurture and look after everyone. In his emotive speech, he calls out the realistic horror that police mercilessly kill black people every day and he remembers the tragic killings of Tamir Rice, Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner and Sandra Bland. Only seconds into his speech, the Grey's Anatomy star receives a standing ovation from the crowd, with actors Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson clapping with admiration for the speaker.

.@iJesseWilliams, #BETAwards2016. https://t.co/EQINvF1IMC

— deray mckesson (@deray) June 27, 2016

Twitter users praised the actor and expressed their emotions after hearing the incredible speech.

Jesse Williams #BETAwards Speech was phenomenal. — SHELBY S SCARLET (@ShelbyScarlet) June 27, 2016

Jesse Williams' #BETAwards speech is so beautiful I could watch it over and over over. I love how he gives credit to Black women

— R Holland (@ChellHolland) June 27, 2016

Jesse Williams speech left me speechless, literally — ❥ (@xo_getatme) June 27, 2016

Anyway Jesse Williams' speech had me tearing up bc of how powerful it was. Don't sleep on it.

— Oum ✨ (@Bomegranate) June 27, 2016

Lead image via Twitter