She weaved the two together by telling the story of her journey. Brown said she believes that the headache and her health problems were caused in large part by the energy she spent trying to fit into corporate culture at jobs she held before her launch to fame and success, which also includes an NAACP Image Award that she won earlier this year. Before her health took a major turn for the worse, Brown would “code switch” at work, talking one way to her family and friends and another to her co-workers when she was the only Black person in the room, she said.

“It is uncomfortable sometimes to be the only one in the room. But what I learned is that being free is a whole other energy,” Brown said. “No matter whether it’s people who are white or Asian or Hispanic or whatever the demographic may be, you show up as you and people respect that. When you go into an interview, and you show up as you, and you go to start the job, you ain’t got to worry about that. They already know who they’re hiring.”

When she started doing videos, she stopped changing the way she talked and stayed with the southern accent and dialect that she grew up with.

“I received so many negative comments about the way I speak. It was mind-blowing the amount of time these people spent inboxing such evil and hurtful things,” Brown said. “They called me a slave and said I talked like a country bumpkin. And there was a time I might have hid my accent because of those words. I’m from Eden, North Carolina. I am a country girl. I am a southern woman. And I realized all the years that I spent covering who I truly was, my accent, I was also covering who my mom and dad was, my sister, my aunties, my uncles, my cousins … And that’s not fair to them. I show up for my family. And I show up for anybody else who’s from the country.”

She still acts, landing several guest and recurring roles in TV series, including Will and Grace, The Connors and a lengthy stint as Octavia Matthews on The Chi.

But it’s her real-life role as “America’s Mom,” which has been cemented by her TikTok celebrity, that resonates with fans.

Most of the audience at the event were students, but even though Brown is old enough to be their mother, she isn’t someone that they watch or talk about with their parents, sophomores Abigail Rizol and Erlande Amisial said.

“She creates a really warm environment,” Rizol said. “That’s how I felt when I was in [the event]. Real unity.”

Added Amisial, “She said a lot of inspiring things.”