The world's most influential rising stars gathered in New York City.
Five people who were honored at the event, including Keke Palmer, Machine Gun Kelly, Trinity Rodman and Law Roach, offered toasts that paid homage to people and causes important to them.
environmentalist Nalleli Cobo honored women who are fighting for change, while author George M. Johnson talked about giving voice to queer stories.
Collins said that everyone at Time 100 Next is here because they have made a significant impact in their fields. It wouldn't be what it is if you didn't bring your gifts to the world.
A group of 100 emerging leaders are on the next list.
The recipients had to say what they thought.
It has been an amazing night for me. Like every person in this room, I have always been a dreamer.
I knew what I wanted to do with my life since I was a little girl. I was a huge fan of Disney movies and Pixar movies, I loved musicals and singing, so I was very drawn to them. I was a teenager at the time. I watched a short film in the 1970s that had a quote by a motivational speaker, and I found out it was inspired by Albert Einstein. It helped me understand when I meet my dreams, how to face the fear and excitement, and the vulnerability that comes with them. It's a quote.
It's fear of the unknown.
They are afraid of change.
They are filled with prejudice.
Not based upon reality but based upon...
I reject anything new because it scares me.
Stay with the familiar, that's what they do.
The most beautiful things in the universe are shrouded in mystery.
We don't have to be familiar to stay loyal to our dreams, so I'd like to raise a toast to that. No matter what we look like, where we come from, or the color of our skin, we can be ourselves. We can either celebrate the new or celebrate what was already there, but never got to see it. The next can be celebrated. Thank you for cheering.
Time, for this incredible honor, thank you.
Time asked us a powerful question: "Who inspire us?" My fire has been renewed by reflecting on this question.
My family and I moved into an apartment complex 30 feet from an active oil well when I was four years old. There were signs that said "dangerous chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm." Asthma attacks and cardiac issues defined my childhood.
I was diagnosed with cancer at 19 years old. It was just like that sign. I sometimes feel like I lost my childhood because of where I lived. I lost the ability to bear children because of my cancer diagnosis.
The fight to end oil drilling in my community has been difficult. It has been filled with victories.
Without the strong women in my community and across the world who are actively fighting to create change, there wouldn't have been any of these successes. The women inspire me to keep going.
I would like to honor a few of them tonight.
Lydia Cacho is an investigative journalist who has risked her life to fight against evil forces that harm women and children in Mexico. Lydia has helped save the lives of many women and children.
In the face of death, my sisters in Iran stood up and spoke out because they knew there was no life without freedom and liberty.
My mother is here with me today and I want to toast her.
Thank you mom. I would like to thank you for being my rock, my best friend and my biggest supporter. You have helped me to understand my worth and value as a woman. I know I'm more than enough if I'm 1% of you. Without you, I don't think it would be possible to be at the Time 100 Next Gala.
To the people who inspire us, to the people who fuel us, and to the people who protect us. Thanks for everything you do.
I take about 5 minutes to sit at my altar and pray with my ancestors every morning when I pick up my phone and see what's happening on the internet. I have a few words with them before I sleep. They are the people that inspire me to do the work that I do, and the people that I rely on when the noise in the world gets too loud.
If you don't talk about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it. I knew I wasn't just telling my story when I wrote my memoir. I told the story of many Black queer people who couldn't read or write because of their race. I am able to share their voice and live in truth now that I have the ability to. I have been trying to keep those types of stories out of the news.
I see a lot of people who refuse to be silent about their pain. People are being vocal in their joy. I think that is very ancestral. The ancestors were happy even in their hardship. It was found ways to survive, to thrive, and to pass those lessons down to the next generation. We call on our ancestors' names in our most difficult times. We want our ancestors to still be here to celebrate our victories.
If my grandmother was still here, she would have found a way to be in this room, even if some of you couldn't be here. She used to say, "Scared money don't make money, Matt," and "After you take the trash out to the curb, you don't go back outside and get it." She was talking about how much money she makes. I listen to her voice when I work. Throughout the day, I rely on her words to keep me going.
I know my work and the work that many of us do today isn't just for today because of her and the ancestors. We do work for the people we will never know who will read our writings, watch our interviews, see our work and be inspired. Someday, we will be considered the ancestors by the people. If there is a book that you want to read but it hasn't been written, then you have to write it.
Let that inspire you when you leave this room tonight. You have to remember those words in everything you do. If there is a TV show that you want to watch but it isn't there, make it. It doesn't exist if you want to see it. Don't create it. Many of the roads we travel today were built before we were born. Continue to pave that road for the future generations who will one day walk down it and be inspired by what they built.
My glass will be raised to the ancestors. I encourage everyone who hears this to drink with me because a world that has tried to kill us and as of yet has not succeeded is where I come from. I would like to thank you.
It can be difficult to be true to yourself when you are meant to be. Everyone in this room agrees with it. It is through authenticity that every honoree here tonight was able to make the change that they did and become as influential as they are.
The idea that who you are can change depending on your priorities and your commitments is what I have been thinking about lately. Depending on where you are in life and what you are trying to accomplish. The core of who you are, your morals, your values, the parts of you that have stayed constant through the years, are so important that it is important to reflect on the core of who you are.
I was always told that the quirks that make you unique are what make you beautiful. Being who we are unapologetically is both a gift and an essential ingredient to our work. Everyone at Time 100 Next is here because they have made a difference. It wouldn't be what it is if you didn't bring your gifts to the world.
I was asked if I was a romantic or a worker. I didn't understand why I couldn't be both. I was in love with both love and what I do. That is something to celebrate. We can love ourselves, we can love other people, and we can love what we do. There isn't anything wrong with that.
Today, it is also what brings us here. Despite the challenges that you have faced, each of you has remained true to who you are. Each of you is unique in its own way, in all of your power and complexity.
Staying true to who you are and making a difference is what this toast is about. It's unapologetically.
I don't have a speech yet, but I woke up this morning and felt weird. I am not sure if any of you did. There is a solar eclipse and a new moon, and three planets are in alignment with one another. It is going to be a crazy night after this.
George M. Johnson had said a lot about ancestors. You are also an author. The art of reading is dying in our generation and it is sad. I want to point out that we are with Time, which is a magazine. Many magazines have been read by me. I loved to read when I was a child. Even at meet and greets, fans connect with me by giving me a book, and that is something that we have. I encourage all of the people that have an influence on people to encourage the next generation to read.
A New York memory will be shared by me. I moved to New York when I was 18 years old, I had a baby on the way, and I worked at a restaurant. I went to the Apollo in Harlem to try out for amateur night. The first rapper to win first place was me. I kept my first music check because I wanted to look back on it and appreciate it, but I never got around to cashing it. Being here in New York and being honored by this is something I am thankful for.
These quotes were said by everyone. I like this one so much that I might just lay off. It was about suspending logic and inviting magic. It is what I encourage from everyone. The world is not normal. If you are an entertainer, hold off on doing things that cost money. If you are an author, write as if no one is reading, because those are the best words that you can ever say. The person who is saving us from drinking water and making the water work and saving the ocean is the person.
My daughter is 17 years old. I feel like I'm in high school. She is going far beyond what I thought I could do. I like that. The person I met in the hallway was so nice and kind, and she had the most amazing speech. If those are the hands that the world is left in, I'm happy.
There were many theories about why a person was gay. There wasn't enough time spent in the church. All of these reasons are nonsense. A person doesn't become gay if their parents hug them too much or they don't hug them enough.
I was told to give a toast to someone that was important to me. A toast about who I am now. I couldn't choose just one. I want to honor the women who made me gay.
I wish Lucy Lawless, Famke Janssen, and any other woman who has done that to a man, well. The boys in my class were watching James Bond and the other movies, but I was focused on the Bond girls. I could not get away from the fact that women are doing the same martial arts moves as men. I was fascinated by these women because they taught me that strength comes from being underestimated. They looked amazing doing it.
Thanks to everyone who taught me how to be funny. I had a picture of Margaret Cho in my bedroom when I was a kid, and I would tell everyone it was because I had a crush on her, but I didn't know how funny it was. I didn't understand how hard it was to fight for your place on stage until I was doing a stand up comedy show. You made me want to fit into one toast. I would like to thank you.
Many of the women in my life aren't celebrities, but they live in the story of my life as icons. I held my hand as I came out of the cafeteria after 3B lunch because I was so emotional. I swear those are actually people.
Thank you mother. You hugged me too much. It didn't make me gay, but it made me feel loved, and no woman will ever be as good as me. I learned how to love from you. It's how to be loved. Small talk with the girl at the register is what you should do. You taught me about strength when I lost my father. You won't see this, and that's okay. It wouldn't make sense if I didn't include you.
All the women in this room who may not have had a hand in making me gay, but are no doubt at this very moment making little boys all over the country gay, please raise a glass.
We'd love to hear from you at letters@Time.com.
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