From its inception, the NAACP has been at the forefront of the struggle to ensure fair employment and positive images in the entertainment industry. In this tradition, the Beverly Hills/Hollywood Branch of the NAACP was founded in 1962 and heralded as the first branch of the NAACP to deal specifically with the racism experienced by African Americans in the entertainment industry.
Almost immediately after its establishment, the Beverly Hills/Hollywood Branch of the NAACP hosted a dinner in the Coconut Grove Ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on October 22, 1962. The evening was dedicated to honoring Sammy Davis Jr. who had loaned the Branch his Beverly Hills address, which made it possible for them to get the Beverly Hills/Hollywood charter. Davis was also feted for his tireless work to obtain fair employment for African-American entertainers in Hollywood, and for his financial support in helping to establish the Beverly Hills/Hollywood Branch of the NAACP.
Five years later, under the leadership of then-Branch President Don Lanclos, a committee of entertainment professionals conceptualized an awards show that would celebrate the achievements of African-American artists and professionals who were largely overlooked by mainstream Hollywood. The show would also honor those people who had worked to change African-American images in Hollywood.
Toni Vaz motioned to call the show the Image Awards and with Maggie Hathaway seconding the motion, the Beverly Hills/Hollywood Branch of the NAACP officially named the award the NAACP Image Awards; and on February 4, 1967, 200 guests arrived at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to honor Sidney Poitier and nominees in two categories: Motion Picture and Television.
Now spanning 76 categories, the NAACP Image Awards celebrates outstanding achievements of people of color in the arts—television, music, literature, and film—and also honors individuals and groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.
Special honorary awards such as the Chairman’s Award, the President’s Award, the Vanguard Award, the Jackie Robinson Sports Award and the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame extol exceptional individuals and organizations for distinguished public service.
Prior Hall of Fame inductees include groundbreaking filmmaker-photographer Gordon Parks (1984) and trailblazing talk show host, actress and OWN network founder Oprah Winfrey (2005). Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder received the Chairman’s Award in 2015, renowned filmmaker Steven Spielberg was honored with the Vanguard Award during the 31st ceremony in 2000, and esteemed actress and activist Kerry Washington was presented with the President’s Award during the 44th ceremony in 2013. At the 36th NAACP Image Awards in 2005, beloved civil rights icon and former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond presented then-Senator Barack Obama with the Chairman’s Award.
Media giants continue to beam powerful images throughout the world that shape our beliefs, opinions and decisions. Social media empowers individuals to amplify Hollywood’s images and messages and to create and distribute their own images and messages. Given these developments, the need has never been greater to spotlight works that foster greater collective empathy and heighten mutual awareness and understanding.
The NAACP Image Awards initially broadcasted locally in Los Angeles on KHJ-TV (currently known as KCAL-TV).
In an effort for all of America to be educated on the diverse talents and contributions of African Americans in the industry and beyond, Willis Edwards, former president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood Branch of the NAACP, persuaded then-NBC President Brandon Tartikoff to nationally broadcast the 19th NAACP Image Awards, which was held at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on December 14, 1986.
Originally, the Image Awards aired in a late night slot on NBC, but in subsequent years, audiences were able to view the show during primetime on FOX as well as on NBC.
From 2014 – 2018, the NAACP partnered with TV One to air the Image Awards, marking a five-year collaboration with the Black-owned cable network. This multi-layered relationship helped to expand the visibility of the NAACP and bring attention to its key message of promoting and protecting the political, educational, social and economic equality of all citizens in this country.
For the second straight year, the 52nd NAACP Image Awards will broadcast live on BET Networks on Saturday, March 27, 2021.
Since 1915, when the NAACP launched a nationwide protest against D. W. Griffith’s brazenly racist film Birth of a Nation, the organization has been vocal in addressing issues of race and representation in entertainment and media. Based on the novel The Clansman, the film glorified the Ku Klux Klan and portrayed Blacks as menaces. “The freed man was represented either as an ignorant fool, a vicious rapist, a venal or unscrupulous politician, or a faithful idiot,” civil rights leader W.E.B. DuBois said of Birth of a Nation. Many attributed a resurgence of lynchings and deadly race riots to viewings of the film, which, at the behest of the NAACP, led some cities to ban it.
While Birth of a Nation remains one of the most controversial movies ever made (and other offensive works come and go), the voices of filmmakers from Oscar Micheaux to Spike Lee to Gina Prince-Bythewood to Ava DuVernay to Ryan Coogler and beyond continue to rise above with beautiful and varied depictions of people of color.
Though the digital convergence era now has made all kinds of television content available across multiple platforms, its earliest days were, of course, marked by very limited numbers of channels and programs—some of which drew great concern from the NAACP over derogatory characterizations of African Americans.
At its annual convention in July 1951, the NAACP passed a resolution critical of then-new television series Amos ‘N’ Andy and other shows that stressed negative stereotypes. The resolution maintained that such programs “depicted black people in a stereotypical and derogatory manner, and the practice of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, persons, or firms sponsoring or promoting this show, or other shows of this type are condemned.”
Issues of minority representation in the film industry continued throughout the Civil Rights Movement with a lack of employment opportunities also being questioned. Despite the monumental events that had taken place in the movements for equal education, voting rights, women’s rights and employment laws, the entertainment industry would remain curiously intransigent in many ways for decades to come.
When the television networks unveiled their 1999-2000 fall season lineup of 26 new shows with zero actors of color in starring or leading roles—a key moment in Hollywood history dubbed by some in the media as the great “whiteout” of 1999—the NAACP initiated an ongoing campaign not only to address the lack of minority representation on TV, but also the lack of employment opportunities for all people of color behind the scenes.
As a result, in 1999, the networks signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the NAACP and its Coalition partners. The purpose of the Coalition is to advance the cause of diversity in the entertainment industry and create milestones by which to measure future progress in Hollywood that are still used today. Additionally, this historic agreement focused on implementing initiatives across all areas of the networks’ operations. Members of the Coalition include the NAACP, Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, National Latino Media Coalition and American Indians in Film and Television.
Soon after the signing of the MOU, then-President Mfume became convinced it was the right time to create an official NAACP Hollywood entity to better support and pursue a standing diversity initiative. Thus, the NAACP Hollywood Bureau was launched.
Established in 2002, the Bureau is charged with holding the entertainment industry accountable for advancing diversity in front of and behind the lens. The office works to expand such opportunities not only for African Americans, but also Asian Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and others.
The Bureau leads the way in the NAACP’s proud tradition of monitoring the media as a form of social advocacy. Aside from managing the NAACP Image Awards, the Bureau consistently meets with movie studios, networks, guilds, labor unions and others in pursuit of more diverse programming and greater employment opportunities for people of color across the entertainment industry.
And while much progress has been made, there is still much to do. NAACP Image Awards recipient Kerry Washington communicated this sentiment beautifully as she accepted her President’s Award honor onstage at the 45th gala in 2014.
“Just as we must ensure that ‘We, the people’ includes all Americans regardless of race, class, gender and sexual orientation,” Washington shared, “we must also work to ensure that the stories we tell, the movies we make, the television we produce, the theatre we stage, the novels we publish are inclusive in all those same ways.”
Considering the diverse roots of the NAACP’s founders – a group of White, Jewish and African-American men and women who were inspired to action by the 1908 race riot in President Abraham Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Illinois —it is fitting that the NAACP Image Awards continues its work towards greater inclusion for all members of the creative communities, and better quality news and entertainment programming for the audiences they serve each and every day.
