Beyonce's Grammys speech in full: Lemonade artist calls on people to learn from the past

'My intention for the film and album was to create a body of work that would give a voice to our pain, our struggles, our darkness and our history'

Beyonce reads her speech as she accepts her award for Best Urban Contemporary Album (Getty)

Beyonce made a powerful speech after receiving the award for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the Grammys.

Read it in full below:

"Thank you so much. Hi baby [to her daughter Blue Ivy]. Thank you to the Grammy voters for this incredible honour, and thank you to everyone who worked so hard to beautifully capture the profundity of deep southern culture.

"I thank God for my family, my wonderful husband, my beautiful daughter, my fans for bringing me so much happiness and support. We all experience pain and loss, and often we become inaudible.

"My intention for the film and album was to create a body of work that would give a voice to our pain, our struggles, our darkness and our history. To confront issues that make us uncomfortable.

It’s important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty, so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror, first through their own families — as well as the news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys — and see themselves, and have no doubt that they’re beautiful, intelligent and capable.

"This is something I want for every child of every race. And I feel it’s vital that we learn from the past and recognise our tendencies to repeat our mistakes. Thank you again for honouring Lemonade. Have a beautiful evening. Thank you for tonight. This is incredible."