The 57th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, February 28, felt like a family reunion for many attendees and celebrities alike. Hosted by comedian Deon Cole, the televised portion of the ceremony closed out the NAACP’s week-long celebration of Black excellence, with awards distributed across 90 categories (film, television, media, literature, music, streaming, podcast). Including the organization’s special awards: Chairman’s Award, President’s Award, and Hall of Fame Awards. The special honors were happily presented to veteran actress Viola Davis, noted actor Colman Domingo, and legendary hip-hop performers Salt-N-Pepa and DJ Spinderella. Samuel L. Jackson also led a powerful tribute to the late Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson.
However, honoring women was a central focus of this year’s ceremony.
Viola Davis, EGOT winner and the recipient of this year’s Chairman’s Award, inspired the audience with a rousing speech: “I always feel like I’m going to step into feeling like I deserve it. I like this quote, that the definition of hell is on your last day on Earth, the person you became meets the person that you could have become,” she continued. “I say that about our nation, I say that about myself; that there is no becoming until you face the depth and the darkness of your own soul. There is no becoming without healing and without a radical acceptance of one’s truth. I know that about myself growing up in poverty.”
Davis took a moment to reflect on her upbringing and the challenges she faced as a child. “Little chocolate girl with thick lips and a wide nose in Rhode Island in 1965. I didn’t see hope. I didn’t see dreams. I just wanted to be somebody. I wanted success because I thought it was significant. And no one can describe the journey of going from the little chocolate girl searching for hope, searching for God, and the girl living a transcendent life.”
She continued, “That is a hero’s journey, and we have only to follow the thread of a hero’s path. And where we had thought we would find an abomination, we shall find a God. And where we thought that we could slay the other, we will slay ourselves. And where we had thought to journey outwards, we shall come to the center of our own existence,” Davis added. “And where we had thought to be alone, we shall come to be with all the world. There is no soul of a nation without the soul of its people. And the soul of its people is not just who is represented in the breathing and alive people in this room, but by all those who are no longer here. We either move forward together or not at all. No man behind the curtain has control over your life.”
“Our crown has already been bought and paid for,” she said. “All we have to do is wear it.”
See the winners’ list below.
Chairman’s Award honoree: Viola Davis
Hall of Fame honorees: Salt-N-Pepa and DJ Spinderella
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Cynthia Erivo – “Wicked: For Good” (Universal Pictures)
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
Quinta Brunson – “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
Angela Bassett – “9-1-1” (ABC)
Creative Honors winners: February 26
NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award
Dr. Mary Anne Franks
Outstanding Actress in a Limited Television (Series, Special, or Movie)
Taraji P. Henson – “Straw” (Netflix)
Outstanding Talk Series
“The Jennifer Hudson Show” (Syndicated)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Aisha Hinds – “9-1-1” (ABC)
Outstanding Performance by a Youth in a Motion Picture
Naya Desir-Johnson – “Sarah’s Oil” (Amazon MGM Studios)
Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited-Series)
Leah Sava Jeffries – “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” (Disney+)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Janelle James – “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Wunmi Mosaku – “Sinners” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Drama Series
“Reasonable Doubt” (Hulu)
Outstanding Digital Creator- Art/Comedy
Tee Sanders – @teesanderscomedy
Outstanding Digital Creator- Political/Culture
Lynae Vanee – @lynaevanee
Virtual award winners:
Outstanding Children’s Program
“Gracie’s Corner” (YouTube TV)
Outstanding Animated Series
“Gracie’s Corner” (YouTube TV)
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television)
Kyla Pratt – “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” (Disney+)
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Motion Picture)
Quinta Brunson – “Zootopia 2” (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Outstanding Editing in a Motion Picture or Television Series, Movie, or Special
Deanna Nowell – “Ironheart” (Disney+)
Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture)
Cassandra Mann – “Unexpected Christmas” (3 Diamonds Entertainment LLC)
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Aisha Muharrar – “Hacks” – “Clickable Face” (HBO Max)
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Cynthia Adarkwa – “The Pitt” -“12:00 P.M.” (HBO Max)
Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special
Aireka Muse – “Friends & Lovers” (Lifetime Movie Network)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special
Teyana Taylor – “Straw” (Netflix)
Outstanding New Artist
Monaleo – “Who Did the Body?” (Columbia Records)
Outstanding Female Artist
Cardi B (Atlantic Records)
Outstanding Hip-Hop/Rap Song
“ErrTime” – Cardi B (Atlantic Records)
Outstanding International Song
“Is It” – Tyla (Epic Records)
Outstanding Jazz Album
“We Insist! 2025” – Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell (Candid Records)
Outstanding Gospel/Christian Album
“Tasha” – Tasha Cobbs Leonard (Motown Gospel)
Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional)
803Fresh feat. Fantasia – “Boots on the Ground Remix” (Snake Eyez Music Group/Artist Partner Group)
Outstanding Album
“Am I The Drama?” – Cardi B (Atlantic Records)
Outstanding Podcast – Lifestyle/Self-Help
“IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” (Higher Ground)
Outstanding Podcast – Arts, Sports and Entertainment
“IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” (Higher Ground)
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
“The Look” – Michelle Obama (Crown)
Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction
“A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisholm & Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics” – Juanita Tolliver (Legacy Lit/Hachette Book Group)
Outstanding Literary Work – Journalism
“On Borrowed Time” – Anissa Durham (Online)
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
“Death of the Author” – Nnedi Okorafor (William Morrow)
Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
“The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems” – Patricia Smith (Scribner)
Outstanding Literary Work – Children
“Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark” – Allen R. Wells; Illustrated by DeAndra Hodge (Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers/Macmillan)
Outstanding Literary Work – Graphic Novel
“Parable of the Talents: A Graphic Novel Adaptation” – Octavia E. Butler, adapted by Damien Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings and David Brame (Abrams ComicArts)
