NAACP Image Awards Celebrates The Magic of Black Women

Quinta Brunson, Keke Palmer, and Nia Long are among those awarded going into night three of the NAACP Image Awards.

The NAACP (National Association for the Advanced of Colored People) has awarded several icons in their Image Awards televised ceremony. For untelevised categories, the NAACP handed out awards between February 20 to February 24.

The televised program will be hosted on February 25 by the legendary Queen Latifah. According to Variety, “the Image Awards celebrate artists within motion picture, television, music and literary categories, including streaming and other digital media.”

On night one of the awards, the NAACP recognized musical works and artists, most notably, Beyoncé and Rihanna were awarded. Beyoncé was named the year’s most outstanding female artist, on top of her song “Cuff It” and album Renaissance being awarded. Rihanna was awarded for her song “Lift Me Up,” which paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

Night two of the ceremony focused on literary works, reality television, and video games. In this ceremony, the likes of Viola Davis, Stacey Abrams, and Jennifer Hudson were awarded. The NAACP recognized Davis for her memoir, Finding Me, which earned her an award for Outstanding Literature.

Additionally, former Georgia representative Stacey Abrams and author Kitt Thomas’s book Stacey’s Remarkable Books as being an Outstanding Childrens Literary Work. Hudson added a fourth Image Award to her many accolades due to her recognition as an Outstanding Host in a Talk Series. Her show The Jennifer Hudson Show earned her the fourth Image Award.

Bringing us to night three of the ceremony, talent within film and television was the main focus of the awards. Quinta Brunson, Keke Palmer, and Nia Long were among those recognized for their brilliance. Among the many awards Brunson has won for her show Abott Elementary, she took home an award as an Outstanding Breakthrough Creative.

For those following Brunson, they have expressed excitement at her gaining fame as a writer and actress. Not only has she won an NAACP image award, but the show has also won multiple Emmys. Brunson, known for her breakout work at Buzzfeed, quickly gained a following for her internet presence.

She worked alongside Eugene Lee Yang at the company, as well as other former Buzzfeed members that have since left in a similar fashion to Brunson. Yang congratulates Brunson in a tweet, showing his appreciation for his ex co-worker.

🗣 that’s EMMY AWARD WINNER QUINTA BRUNSON!!! 👏💐😭💖 pic.twitter.com/JzXmpVSB2i

— Eugene Lee Yang (@EugeneLeeYang) September 13, 2022

Palmer was recognized for her voice-over work in Lightyear, taking home the award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for motion pictures. Long earned an award for her work in the miniseries, The Last Man: The Final Chapters. For this, she was recognized as an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series.

Other winners include The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder as an Outstanding Animated Series and Daring Simone Biles as a non-fiction Outstanding Short-Form Series or Special. To the excitement of many, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Makes History With Successful Opening Weekend”>Black Panther: Wakanda Forever took home another award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture.

To see more winners, audiences can tune into the televised ceremony on February 25, streaming at 8 P.M. EST on BET. To watch the virtual awards ceremony, fans can also head to the NAACP Image Awards YouTube Channel.