Viola Davis Tells a Story About Her Childhood That Will Bring You to Tears

Viola Davis's success story is a true testament
that shows one's past circumstances does not
dictate one's future.
In the cover story for the new issue of People
magazine, the Oscar winner shared her rags to
riches journey, movingly detailing the one photo
she has from her childhood and how she
persevered through her scarce early years.
"The only picture I have of my childhood is the
picture of me in kindergarten," she said,
mentioning that her family did not have enough
money for a camera. "I have this expression on
my face — it's not a smile, it's not a frown. I
swear to you, that's the girl who wakes up in
the morning and who looks around her house
and her life saying, 'I cannot believe how God
has blessed me.'"
The actress spent her early childhood years in
an impoverished environment consisting of a
one-room shack on her grandmother's farm
which served as a former slave plantation
where her grandfather worked.
Her mother and father, Mae Alice and Dan,
moved to Rhode Island shortly after she was
born, struggling to make enough money to
support Davis and her five siblings. She
explained that they were plagued with several
hardships, like hunger, poor living conditions
and racist attacks from bullies at school.
"I was the kind of poor where I knew right
away I had less than everyone around me," she
said. "Our environment, our physical space
reflected our income... The boards were
coming off the walls."
She saw her humble beginnings as motivation
to want better for herself when she became of
age to self-provide.
"It became motivation as opposed to
something else — the thing about poverty is
that it starts affecting your mind and your
spirit because people don't see you," she said.
"I chose from a very young age that I didn't
want that for my life. And it very much has
helped me appreciate and value the things that
are in my life now because I never had it."
Truly inspiring.
See how the Twitter community reacted to the
actress's deserving Oscar win and her amazing
speech below:
See how the actress won big at the Oscars in
the BET Breaks video above.
(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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Viola Davis Celebrity News
Viola Davis holding her Oscar
Oil on canvas, 2017
4:55 AM - 27 Feb 2017
1,682 2,264
ice truck killer
@meIisandre
the htgawm cast responding to viola
davis' oscar win is the sweetest thing i
have ever seen im crying
3:48 PM - 27 Feb 2017
657 763
ana
@astrolance
Viola Davis' speech is INTENSE.
Yes, she deserves the Oscar for FENCES.
But, DAMN, she deserves an Oscar for
Oscar speeches.
3:46 AM - 27 Feb 2017
120 300
Dan Slott
@DanSlott
Viola Davis's Oscar speech has just been
nominated for next year's Oscars
3:46 AM - 27 Feb 2017
208 565
Chase Mitchell
@ChaseMit
I feel so honored to have seen
@violadavis on stage in Fences. No one
deserves an Oscar more than her.
3:46 AM - 27 Feb 2017
219 1,996
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
@jessetyler
VIOLA DAVIS FINALLY WON HER FIRST
OSCAR I CAN CRY SHE DESERVES THIS
SO MUCH #Oscars
3:46 AM - 27 Feb 2017
3,283 13,682