The 52nd NAACP Image Awards kicked off today with the virtual announcement of their first batch of winners. The awards ceremony will culminate on March 27 with a live simulcast across ViacomCBS Networks which will include BET, CBS, MTV, VH1, MTV2, BET HER and LOGO. Each day in between, the Image Awards will reveal winners from the non-televised award categories.
The first set of awards revealed on Tuesday night included numerous literary awards including Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” for Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction. As for trophies for TV and feature documentaries, Dawn Porter’s John Lewis: Good Trouble won on the film side for Outstanding Documentary. The critically acclaimed Michael Jordan docuseries The Last Dance took the Image Award for Outstanding Documentary (Television – Series or Special) while Melissa Haizlip’s Mr. SOUL! was honored for Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture) for its deep dive into the first nationally broadcast all-Black variety show on public television. In addition, Keith McQuirter’s By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem won Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
The Image Awards also handed out special awards to Madison Potts for Youth Activist of the Year and Reverend Dr. Wendell Anthony was honored with Activist of the Year.
The NAACP Image Awards honors the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature, and film and also recognizes individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.
Read the winners of the first night of the NAACP Image Awards below and return as we update the robust winners list through March 27.
March 22 Winners
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
“The Awkward Black Man” – Walter Mosley
Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction
“A Promised Land” – Barack Obama
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
“We’re Better Than This” – Elijah Cummings
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
“The Dead Are Arising” – Les Payne, Tamara Payne
Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
“Vegetable Kingdom” – Bryant Terry
Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
“The Age of Phillis” – Honorée Jeffers
Outstanding Literary Work – Children
“She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm” – Katheryn Russell-Brown, Eric Velasquez
Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens
“Before the Ever After” – Jacqueline Woodson
Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Keith McQuirter – “By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem”
Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Melissa Haizlip – “Mr. SOUL!”
Outstanding Documentary (Film)
“John Lewis: Good Trouble”
Outstanding Documentary (Television – Series or Special)
“The Last Dance”
Special Award – Youth Activist of the Year
Madison Potts
Special Award – Activist of the Year
Reverend Dr. Wendell Anthony