The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to other awards, like the

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and the

Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, the over 40 categories of the Image Awards are voted on by the award organization's members (in this case, NAACP members). Honorary awards (similar to the

Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Moti ...

) have also been included, such as the President's Award, the Chairman's Award, the Entertainer of the Year, and the Hall of Fame Award.

History

The

award ceremony An awards ceremony is a type of ceremony where awards are given out. The ceremony may be arranged by a government organization, a society, a school, a trade association or even a company that specializes in running awards ceremonies. Typically a ma ...

was first organized and presented on August 13, 1967, by activists

Maggie Hathaway Maggie Mae Hathaway (July 1, 1911 – September 24, 2001) was an American activist, blues singer, actress, sports writer and golfer. She began her career as an actress before venturing into recording in Los Angeles where she released a few singles. ...

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

and

Willis Edwards Willis Edwards (28 April 1903 – 27 September 1988) was an English professional football player and manager. Biography Edwards was born in the mining village of Newton, North East Derbyshire, not far from Chesterfield and Alfreton. Like many b ...

, all three of whom were leaders of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP branch. While it was first taped for television by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

(which broadcast the awards from 1987 to 1994 in January, on weeks when ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' wasn't airing a new episode), it would only be broadcast in primetime beginning in 1996. Due to changes in timing of the awards, there was no awards ceremony held the following years: 1973, as the timing was changed to honor a full calendar year early in the following year (reverted to a "late-in-year" ceremony for 1981–1990); 1991, as the timing returned to late in a calendar year to honor that same year; 1995, The first

live broadcast A live broadcast, also called a live transmission, generally refers to various types of media that are broadcast without a significant delay. The most common seen media example of the live transmission is a news program or a news broadcasting. Oth ...

of the awards, also on the Fox Network, occurred in 2007 for its 38th edition (up until 2007, the ceremony had been broadcast with tape delay) and the annual ceremonies usually take place in or around the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area, in February or early March. The 44th edition aired on NBC. Sources have had trouble verifying the winners in the top categories from 1983 to 1995. The New York firm

Society Awards Society Awards is an American company best known for designing and manufacturing high-profile entertainment industry awards, including the Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, GLAAD Media Award, and YouTube Creator Awards, among others. History Societ ...

manufactures the trophy since its redesign in 2008.

Event dates and locations

Controversies

In 1987, the NAACP came under fire for dropping their Best Actress award for that year. They defended this position, citing a lack of meaningful roles for black women. In 1990, they were criticized once again for not awarding Best Actress. This was the fourth time it could not find enough nominees for Best Actress. Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the organization's Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch, said, "The

ilm Ilm or ILM may refer to: Acronyms * Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product * ''I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1 * Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets * Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion pic ...

industry has yet to show diversity or present realistic leading roles for

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

women." In other years, some nominees have been called undeserving of NAACP attention. In response, some NAACP representatives have argued that the quality of an artist's work is the salient issue, with factors such as criminal charges inconsequential in this regard. For example, in 1994,

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the Li ...

was a nominee for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for the film ''

Poetic Justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, henc ...

'' despite the filing of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

charges against him in December 1993. More specifically, Shakur had been accused of felony counts of forcible sodomy and unlawful detainment in New York City, when a woman alleged that he and two other men held her down in a hotel room while a fourth man sodomized her. Shakur was also indicted for two counts of aggravated assault in an unrelated incident in which he supposedly shot and wounded two off-duty police officers. In the same year,

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American comedian and actor. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playin ...

was criticized for winning Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series and the show was criticized for its sexual controversy. In 2004,

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

's ''

Chocolate Factory ''Chocolate Factory'' is the fifth studio album by American recording artist R. Kelly, released on February 18, 2003, by Jive Records. Recording sessions took place mainly at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording Company in Chicago, Illinois, and ...

'' was nominated for Outstanding Album while he was under

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

for charges related to

child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...

. Other nominees have faced controversy due to their portrayals of major civil rights figures. In 2003, the movie '' Barbershop'' received five nominations, including Outstanding Motion Picture and Outstanding Supporting Actor (for

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He hosted BET's ''ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and ''Def Comedy Jam'' in 1995. He is bes ...

's performance). In the film, Cedric's character makes pejorative remarks about

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the ...

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, and

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

, content that elicited criticism, including Rosa Parks's refusal to attend the awards event. The rap group OutKast received six nominations in 2004 but faced criticism because they had previously recorded the song "Rosa Parks", which had resulted in Parks suing them over the use of her name.

Award categories

These are the major categories:

Motion picture

* Outstanding Motion Picture * Outstanding Documentary * Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture * Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture * Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture * Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture * Outstanding International Motion Picture * Outstanding Independent Motion Picture * Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture * Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture * Outstanding Character Voice Performance – Motion Picture

Music

* Outstanding New Artist * Outstanding Female Artist * Outstanding Male Artist * Outstanding Duo or Group * Outstanding Jazz Artist * Outstanding Jazz Album * Outstanding Gospel Artist * Outstanding Gospel Album (Traditional or Contemporary) * Outstanding Music Video * Outstanding Song (Traditional and Contemporary) * Outstanding Album

Literature

* Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction * Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction * Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography * Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author * Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry * Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional * Outstanding Literary Work – Children * Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens

Podcast

* Outstanding News and Information Podcast * Outstanding Lifestyle/Self-Help Podcast * Outstanding Society and Culture Podcast * Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author * Outstanding Arts and Entertainment Podcast

Television

* Outstanding Drama Series * Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series * Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series *

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

Special awards

* Vanguard Award * Chairman's Award * President's Award * Hall of Fame Award * Entertainer of the Year * Social Media Personality of the Year

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Naacp Image Awards Awards established in 1967 Awards honoring African Americans 1969 establishments in the United States