Quinta Brunson rallies for teachers and shares Obama's message in ‘SNL’ monologue

Quinta Brunson delivered a special message dedicated to teachers during her "Saturday Night Live" hosting debut.

During her monologue April 1, Brunson said that her rising stardom has had led her to start lying to her mom about who she is hanging out with.

“I’ll be like, ‘You know, I’m just going to chill in my friend’s garden.’ I just don’t mention that it’s Oprah’s garden,” she said. “I told her I was going out to dinner, but I didn’t tell her with who because it was this guy.”

The monologue then cut to a video of Brunson with former President Barack Obama recording a message for her mother, who was a teacher for 40 years.

“Hi! I’m with your daughter here and we’re so proud of her, but really proud of you,” Obama said in the video. “Not only because you were obviously a great mom, but because you are a teacher. Most important job there is.”

Obama's mention of the importance of teachers prompted Brunson to then take a moment to advocate for the group, emphasizing their role in the school system.

“Please remember how important teachers are,” she said. “Acknowledge the work they do every day. And for the love of God, pay them the money they deserve.”

Before rallying for teachers, Brunson kicked off her monologue by telling the audience that she wanted to be a cast member on the iconic sketch comedy show. However, she noted that the audition process “seemed long” so she forged her own path to being on the show.

“Instead, I just created my own TV show, made sure it became really popular, won a bunch of Emmys, and then got asked to host,” she said.

As the creator, executive producer, co-writer and star of “Abbott Elementary,” Brunson celebrated the “unique” nature of the show as a network sitcom today, likening it to “Friends” with a few notable exceptions.

“Except instead of being about a group of friends, it’s about a group of teachers and instead of New York, it’s in Philadelphia, and instead of not having Black people, it does,” she quipped.

Brunson has said that “Abbott Elementary” was inspired by her mom’s dedication to education.

In a March 2022 interview with NPR’s “Fresh Air,” the actor explained, “Despite it getting harder, despite teachers not having all the support they need, despite kids growing even more unruly than they’ve been in recent time ... she still loved the job.”

Ultimately, the hit ABC show was named after Brunson’s sixth grade teacher, who she said took her “under her wing” after she switched from the same school where her mom taught.

Brunson famously used the marketing budget from “Abbott Elementary” to redirect funds toward school supplies for teachers in need, which was made available in a renovated bus where they could also take a break when needed.

In explaining her decision for the budget, she said, “It’s about being able to make those kinds of decisions that really excite me, things that can really materially help people.”

Brunson also spoke about the pay disparities in education with TODAY.com in March 2022, urging elected officials to offer more support to public schools.

"Teachers should never have to want for anything," she said.

Brunson said changes haven’t been made to the education system because for elected officials, it’s “easy to talk about stuff to seem cool or smart,” but it takes more to make it a reality. In order to see real change, she said “sometimes it takes a teachers strike to get that kind of effort” and to make it clear they will “not let up” on getting the necessary funding.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com