Kerry Washington, Scandal star and activist, may be a Hollywood “it” girl, but she doesn’t shop images of her adorable baby to the tabloids or post pics of her handsome hubby on Instagram for #ManCrushMonday. That’s why it’s so refreshing to go behind the scenes with Washington and learn more about her personal passions, latest projects and carefully guarded family life in the double March/April issue of EBONY.

Washington also reveals to EBONY that she will not waver in her convictions when it comes to important causes, including the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Mo. She shares why she broke down #Blacklivesmatter on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards.

“I was really broken that morning,” Washington recounts of the off-the-cuff interview during which she shared the difficulty of being Black in America. “Watching that funeral, I was just broken. And I take all of who I am into a room. That’s where my mind was that day. I’m not going to let anyone segment me or make me exclude parts of who I am because they may be threatening.”

For more, readers can find the March/April issue of EBONY on newsstands March 20.

BMWK, Are you still a Scandal fan?