NAACP Image Award
| NAACP Image Award | |
|---|---|
 47th NAACP Image Awards | |
| Awarded for | Excellence in film, television, music, and literature by outstanding people of color |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | NAACP |
| First awarded | 1967 |
| Official website | NAACP Image Awards |
An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.[1] Similar to other awards, like the Oscars and the Grammys, the over 30 categories of the Image Awards are voted on by the award organization's members (that is, NAACP members). Honorary awards (similar to the Academy Honorary Award) have also been included, such as the President's Award, the Chairman's Award, Entertainer of the Year and The Image Award Hall of Fame.
The award ceremony was first presented in 1967 and was first nationally televised in 1994 on the Fox Network. There was no awards ceremony in 1973. The first live broadcast of the event, 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, United States area, in February or early March. The 44th edition aired on NBC. Sources have had trouble verifying the winners in the top categories from 1983-1995.
The New York firm Society Awards manufactures the trophy since its redesign in 2008.
Past shows
| Year | Day | Host | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 (1st) | February 4 | Beverly Hilton Hotel | |
| 1968 (2nd) | |||
| 1969 (3rd) | |||
| 1970 (4th) | November | ||
| 1971 (5th) | |||
| 1972 (6th) | November | ||
| 1974 (7th) | January 19 | Hollywood Palladium | |
| 1975 (8th) | January | ||
| 1976 (9th) | |||
| 1977 (10th) | April | ||
| 1978 (11th) | June | ||
| 1980 (12th)[2] | January 27 | Louis Gossett, Jr./Rita Moreno/Ted Lange/Benjamin Hooks | Hollywood Palladium |
| 1980 (13th) | December | ||
| 1981 (14th) | December | ||
| 1982 (15th) | December 5 | Robert Guillaume | Hollywood Palladium |
| 1983 (16th) | December | Jayne Kennedy/George Peppard/Michael Warren | |
| 1984 (17th) | December 4 | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion | |
| 1985 (18th) | December | ||
| 1986 (19th) | December | ||
| 1987 (20th) | December 13 | Debbie Allen/Denzel Washington | |
| 1988 (21st) | December | ||
| 1989 (22nd) | December | ||
| 1990 (23rd) | December 9 | ||
| 1991 (24th) | |||
| 1992 (25th) | January 11 | ||
| 1993 (26th) | January 16 | Pasadena Civic Auditorium | |
| 1994 (27th) | January 5 | ||
| 1996 (28th) | April | Whitney Houston/Denzel Washington | Pasadena Civic Auditorium |
| 1997 (29th) | February 8 | Arsenio Hall/Patti LaBelle | |
| 1998 (30th) | February 14 | Vanessa L. Williams/Gregory Hines | |
| 1999 (31st) | February 14 | Mariah Carey/Blair Underwood | Pasadena Civic Auditorium |
| 2000 (32nd) | February 12 | Diana Ross | |
| 2001 (33rd) | February 23 | Chris Tucker | Universal Amphitheatre |
| 2002 (34th) | March 3 | Chris Tucker | |
| 2003 (35th) | March 8 | Cedric the Entertainer | |
| 2004 (36th) | March 6 | Tracee Ellis Ross/Golden Brooks/Persia White/Jill Marie Jones | |
| 2005 (37th) | March 25 | Chris Tucker | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion |
| 2006 (38th) | March 3 | Cuba Gooding, Jr. | Shrine Auditorium |
| 2007 (39th) | March 2 | LL Cool J | |
| 2008 (40th) | February 14 | D. L. Hughley | |
| 2009 (41st) | February 12 | Halle Berry/Tyler Perry | |
| 2010 (42nd) | February 26 | Anika Noni Rose/Hill Harper | |
| 2011 (43rd) | March 4 | Wayne Brady/Holly Robinson Peete | |
| 2012 (44th) | February 17 | Sanaa Lathan/Anthony Mackie | |
| 2013 (45th) | February 1 | Steve Harvey | |
| 2014 (46th) | February 22 | Anthony Anderson[3] | Pasadena Civic Auditorium |
| 2015 (47th) | February 6 | ||
| 2016 (48th) | February 5 |
Controversy
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.[4] In 1990, they were criticized once again for not awarding Best Actress.[5] This was the fourth time it could not find enough nominees for Best Actress.[5] 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."[5]
The NAACP Image Awards have been the subject of controversy due to prior claims that certain nominees were undeserving of NAACP attention. In response, parties 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 following sexual assault charges in December 1993.[6] More specifically, Shakur was accused of felony counts of forcible sodomy and unlawful detainment in New York City, when a woman alleged that Shakur and two other men held her down in a hotel room while a fourth man sodomized her.[7] Shakur was also indicted with two counts of aggravated assault in an unrelated incident in which he supposedly shot and wounded two off-duty police officers.[7] 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.[7] In 2004, R. Kelly's Chocolate Factory was nominated for Outstanding Album[8] while he was under indictment for charges related to child pornography.[9]
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 a boycott of the awards event by Parks herself.[10] The rap group OutKast received six nominations in 2004 but faced criticism because they had previously recorded a song titled "Rosa Parks" which had resulted in them being sued by Parks over the use of her name.[9]
For 2014, the NAACP was criticized for nominating white nominees.
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
Television
- Outstanding Drama Series
- Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
- Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
- Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
- Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
- Outstanding Children's Program
- Outstanding Comedy Series
- Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
- Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
- Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
- Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
- Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
- Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
- Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
- Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special
- Outstanding News/Information – Series or Special
- Outstanding Talk Series
- Outstanding Variety – Series or Special
Music
- Outstanding New Artist
- Outstanding Female Artist
- Outstanding Male Artist
- Outstanding Duo or Group
- Outstanding Jazz Artist
- Outstanding Gospel Artist
- Outstanding Music Video
- Outstanding Song
- 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's
- Outstanding Literary Work, Youth/Teens
Special awards
References
- ↑ Russo, Charles (ed.). "Encyclopedia of Education Law". p. 570.
- ↑ "Together They Did It!" The 12th Annual NAACP Image Awards
- ↑ The 45th NAACP Image Awards Announces Additional Presenters Including Idris Elba, Vin Diesel, Terry Crews & More
- ↑ "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.
- 1 2 3 "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. 1994-01-24. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
- 1 2 3 Leonardi, Marisa (January 7, 1994). "Shakur Questionably nominated". LA Times. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ↑ Wiederhorn, Jon (2004-01-08). "Outkast, Beyonce, R. Kelly Nominated For NAACP Image Awards". VH1.com. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
- 1 2 "Paula Zahn Now: Can Democrats Challenge Kerry?; NAACP Controversy; California Death Penalty Debate". CNN.com. 2004-01-28. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
- ↑ "Image Awards rekindle 'Barbershop' controversy". CNN.com. 2003-03-09. Archived from the original on 2006-06-29. Retrieved 2006-09-29.