Lin-Manuel Miranda accepted his Tony with an absolutely beautiful sonnet about acceptance

Yesterday was a terrible day. We awoke to news of the shooting in Orlando, the worst in this nation’s history; a shooting that targeted LGBTQ people in a club — a place, usually, of joy. With the cloud of that tragedy hanging above, last night was also the Tony Awards. James Corden, who hosted the ceremony, opened the evening with an acknowledgement of the Orlando shooting, striking the perfect note when he said: “On behalf of the whole theater community and every person in this room, our hearts go out to all of those affected by this atrocity. All we can say is you are not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy.”

Throughout the ceremony, many of the night’s speeches mentioned the victims and the violence — there were beautiful words from Barbra Streisand and Frank Langella. But it was the words from Best Score winner, Lin-Manuel Miranda, that gave us goosebumps. Miranda delivered his Hamilton win acceptance speech in the form of a sonnet. His words are moving, beautiful, and remind us of exactly what is stronger than hate: love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

The text from Lin-Manuel’s moving sonnet:

My wife’s the reason anything gets done
She nudges me towards promise by degrees
She is a perfect symphony of one
Our son is her most beautiful reprise.
We chase the melodies that seem to find us
Until they’re finished songs and start to play
When senseless acts of tragedy remind us
That nothing here is promised, not one day.
This show is proof that history remembers
We lived through times when hate and fear seemed stronger;
We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.
I sing Vanessa’s symphony, Eliza tells her story
Now fill the world with music, love, and pride.