Chadwick Boseman’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, tearfully accepted her late husband’s posthumous Tribute Prize at the 2021 Gotham Awards.

On Monday (January 11), Ledward delivered a moving speech dedicated to the late Black Panther actor, who died at 43 years old last August following a private, years-long battle with colon cancer.

“He is the most honest person I’d ever met,” Ledward started, according to PEOPLE. “He actively searched for it, in himself, those around him and the moment. The truth can be a very easy thing for the self to avoid. But if one does not live in truth, then it’s impossible to live life.”

“So it became how he lived his life, day in and day out,” she added. “Imperfect but determined. He was blessed to live many lives within his concentrated one. He developed his understanding of what it meant to be the one, the none and the all. ‘A vessel to be poured into and out of,’ he’d said.”

“He harnessed the power of letting go, and letting God’s love shine through,” Ledward continued through tears. “He realized that when one is able to recognize that when their strength does not come from themself, they rarely mess up. That’s what he was doing when he was acting. Modeling for us a path to true fulfillment.”

She concluded, "Chad, thank you. I love you. I am so proud of you. Keep shining your light on us. Thank you."

Boseman and Ledward, who celebrated their engagement in 2019, quietly tied the knot before the actor's death. Since then, the acceptance speech marks the first time Ledward's spoken openly about Boseman, who made his final film appearance in the 2020 Netflix film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

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