NAACP Image Awards
| NAACP Image Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current: 54th NAACP Image Awards | |
| Awarded for | Excellence in film, television, theatre, music, and literature |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | NAACP |
| First awarded | August 13, 1967 |
| Website | naacpimageawards |
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to other awards, like the Oscars and the Grammys, 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) 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 was first organized and presented on August 13, 1967, by activists Maggie Hathaway, Sammy Davis Jr. and Willis Edwards, all three of whom were leaders of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP branch.[1][2] While it was first taped for television by NBC (which broadcast the awards from 1987 to 1994 in January, on weeks when Saturday Night Live 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, but note that the reasoning is not clear.[clarify]
The first live broadcast 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 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 manufactures the trophy since its redesign in 2008.
Event dates and locations
| # | Date | Host(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | August 13, 1967[2] | The Beverly Hilton | |
| 2nd | September 22, 1968[3] | The Beverly Hilton | |
| 3rd | October 11, 1969[4] | ||
| 4th | November 15, 1970[5] | ||
| 5th | November 21, 1971[6] | ||
| 6th | November 18, 1972[7] | ||
| 1973 - not presented, timing changed to have achievements of a calendar year honored early in following year | |||
| 7th | January 19, 1974 | Hollywood Palladium | |
| 8th | January 18, 1975 | ||
| 9th | February 7, 1976 | ||
| 10th | April 24, 1977 | ||
| 11th | June 9, 1978 | ||
| 12th | January 27, 1979 | Hollywood Palladium | |
| 13th | January 27, 1980[8] | Louis Gossett Jr./Rita Moreno/Ted Lange/Benjamin Hooks/Valenti | |
| 14th | December 5, 1981 | Robert Guillaume (note: timing changed, achievements of 1980/81 were honored late in 1981) |
Hollywood Palladium |
| 15th | December 1982 | Jayne Kennedy/George Peppard/Michael Warren | |
| 16th | December 4, 1983 | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion | |
| 17th | December 1984 | ||
| 18th | December 1985 | ||
| 19th | December 13, 1986 | Debbie Allen/Denzel Washington | |
| 20th | December 1987 | Denzel Washington/Debbie Allen | |
| 21st | December 1988 | ||
| 22nd | December 9, 1989 | ||
| 23rd | December 9, 1990 | ||
| 1991 - not presented, timing changed to have achievements of a calendar year honored early in following year | |||
| 24th | January 11, 1992 | Pasadena Civic Auditorium | |
| 25th | January 16, 1993 | ||
| 26th | January 5, 1994 | ||
| 1995 - not presented, financial concerns[9] | |||
| 27th | April 6, 1996 | Whitney Houston/Denzel Washington | Pasadena Civic Auditorium |
| 28th | February 8, 1997 | Arsenio Hall, Patti LaBelle | |
| 29th | February 14, 1998 | Vanessa L. Williams, Gregory Hines | |
| 30th | February 14, 1999 | Mariah Carey, Blair Underwood[10] | |
| 31st | February 12, 2000 | Diana Ross | |
| 32nd | February 23, 2001 | Chris Tucker | Universal Amphitheatre |
| 33rd | March 3, 2002 | ||
| 34th | March 8, 2003 | Cedric the Entertainer | |
| 35th | March 6, 2004 | Tracee Ellis Ross/Golden Brooks/Persia White/Jill Marie Jones | |
| 36th | March 19, 2005 | Chris Tucker | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion |
| 37th | February 26, 2006 | Cuba Gooding Jr. | Shrine Auditorium |
| 38th | March 2, 2007 | LL Cool J | |
| 39th | February 14, 2008 | D. L. Hughley | |
| 40th | February 12, 2009[11] | Halle Berry/Tyler Perry | |
| 41st | February 26, 2010 | Anika Noni Rose/Hill Harper | |
| 42nd | March 4, 2011[12] | Wayne Brady/Holly Robinson Peete | |
| 43rd | February 17, 2012 | Sanaa Lathan/Anthony Mackie | |
| 44th | February 1, 2013 | Steve Harvey | |
| 45th | February 22, 2014 | Anthony Anderson[13] | Pasadena Civic Auditorium |
| 46th | February 6, 2015 | ||
| 47th | February 5, 2016 | ||
| 48th | February 11, 2017 | ||
| 49th | January 15, 2018 | ||
| 50th | March 30, 2019 | Dolby Theatre | |
| 51st | February 22, 2020 | Pasadena Civic Auditorium | |
| 52nd | March 27, 2021 | Virtual | |
| 53rd | February 26, 2022[14] | Pasadena Civic Auditorium | |
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.[15] In 1990, they were criticized once again for not awarding Best Actress.[16] This was the fourth time it could not find enough nominees for Best Actress.[16] Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the organization's Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch, said, "The [film] industry has yet to show diversity or present realistic leading roles for African-American women."[16]
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 was a nominee for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for the film Poetic Justice despite the filing of sexual assault charges against him in December 1993.[17] 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.[18] 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.[18] In the same year, Martin Lawrence was criticized for winning Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series and the show was criticized for its sexual controversy.[18][clarification needed] In 2004, R. Kelly's Chocolate Factory was nominated for Outstanding Album[19] while he was under indictment for charges related to child pornography.[20]
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's performance). In the film, Cedric's character makes pejorative remarks about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Jackson, and Jesse Jackson, content that elicited criticism, including Rosa Parks's refusal to attend the awards event.[21] 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.[20]
Award categories
These are the major categories:
References
- ^ "The Show | Image Awards History". naacpimageawards.net. January 12, 2020. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020.
- ^ a b "NAACP Will Present Nine Image Awards". Los Angeles Times. August 7, 1967. p. 74 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NAACP to Confer Honors at Beverly Hilton Fete". Valley Times (of North Hollywood). San Fernando Valley Times Co. August 6, 1968. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Knapp, Dan (September 27, 1969). "Getting Blacker, But Not Black Enough". Vancouver Sun – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NAACP Sets Annual Image Awards Show". Los Angeles Times. September 8, 1970 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Marvin Gaye Wins Top Honors at NAACP Image Awards Show". Pittsburgh Courier. December 4, 1971 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NAACP Honors Black Performers". The Palm Beach Post. November 20, 1972 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Robinson, Leroy (May 1980). Marr, Warren II (ed.). "'Together They Did It!' The 12th Annual NAACP Image Awards". The Crisis. Vol. 85, no. 5. pp. 162–164. ISSN 0011-1422. OCLC 609962350 – via Google Books.
- ^ "NAACP board may decide fate of costly Image Awards at meeting this week". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
- ^ Lewis, Ida E., ed. (March 1999). "NAACP Image Awards Glitters For 30 Years". The Crisis. Vol. 106, no. 2. pp. 35–37. ISSN 0011-1422. OCLC 609962350. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
- ^ "Halle Berry and Tyler Perry to Host Live Broadcast of "40th Naacp Image Awards" Thursday, February 12, on Fox" (Press release). Fox Broadcasting Company. December 16, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2022 – via The Futon Critic.
- ^ "42nd NAACP Image Awards | Winners & Honorees | Television". naacpimageawards.net. March 4, 2011. Archived from the original on June 25, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ "The 45th NAACP Image Awards Announces Additional Presenters Including Idris Elba, Vin Diesel, Terry Crews & More". TV By The Numbers. February 13, 2014. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
- ^ "NAACP Announces '53rd NAACP Image Awards' To Be Held In Person" (Press release). BET. November 18, 2021.
- ^ "NAACP cites lack of Best Actress in a Motion Picture Award due to lack of meaningful roles". UPI.com. October 29, 1987. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Why NAACP lacks image award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture". LA Times. October 25, 1990. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ^ "Michael Jackson makes surprise appearance at NAACP Image Awards". Jet. January 24, 1994. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
- ^ a b c Leonardi, Marisa (January 7, 1994). "Shakur Questionably nominated". LA Times. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (January 8, 2004). "Outkast, Beyoncé, R. Kelly Nominated For NAACP Image Awards". VH1.com. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
- ^ a b "Paula Zahn Now: Can Democrats Challenge Kerry?; NAACP Controversy; California Death Penalty Debate". CNN.com. January 28, 2004. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
- ^ "Image Awards rekindle 'Barbershop' controversy". CNN.com. March 9, 2003. Archived from the original on June 29, 2006. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
