Barack Obama, Madison Potts, ‘The Last Stand’ earn NAACP Image Awards
Part one of the 52nd NAACP Image Awards began this week with a virtual, non-televised ceremony, honoring achievements in literary work, documentaries and activism.
President Barack Obama won the literary award for nonfiction for his memoir “A Promised Land,” while the late Elijah Cummings, former United States House of Representatives for Maryland, won the debut author award for “We’re Better Than This.”
John Lewis: Good Trouble, which the explores Georgia representative’s, 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health care reform, and immigration, won Outstanding Documentary (Film) and the The Last Dance, the multi-episode ESPN docuseries that charted the rise of the 1990’s Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, won Outstanding Documentary (Television).
Madison Potts, a senior Political Science major and Sociology minor at Kennesaw State University, created a coalition of civically engaged student-led organizations at KSU to get out the vote through providing resources for tabling, campaigning, and virtual phone/text banking opportunities in Georgia, was named Youth Activist of the Year and Reverend Dr. Wendell Anthony was named as Activist of the Year.
The 52nd NAACP Image Awards, with nominations led by Beyoncé, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey and black-ish, will air live on BET on Saturday, March 27th, 2021 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT. The ceremony will be simulcast across ViacomCBS Networks including CBS, BET Her, VH1, MTV, MTV2, and LOGO.
The winners revealed during Monday’s ceremony include:
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
“The Awkward Black Man” – Walter Mosley
Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction
“A Promised Land” – Barack Obama
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
“We’re Better Than This” – Elijah Cummings
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
“The Dead Are Arising” – Les Payne, Tamara Payne
Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
“Vegetable Kingdom” – Bryant Terry
Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
“The Age of Phillis” – Honorée Jeffers
Outstanding Literary Work – Children
“She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm” – Katheryn Russell-Brown, Eric Velasquez
Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens
“Before the Ever After” – Jacqueline Woodson
Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Keith McQuirter – By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem
Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Melissa Haizlip – Mr. SOUL!
Outstanding Documentary (Film)
John Lewis: Good Trouble
Outstanding Documentary (Television – Series or Special)
The Last Dance
Special Award – Youth Activist of the Year
Madison Potts
Special Award – Activist of the Year
Reverend Dr. Wendell Anthony
Photo: Ralf Liebhold/Shutterstock
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- 2024 North Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) Nominations - December 24, 2024
- 2024 Online Association of Female Film Critics (OAFFC) Winners: ‘The Substance” Dominates - December 23, 2024
- 2024 Greater Western New York Film Critics Association (GWNYFCA) Nominations - December 23, 2024
2024 North Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) Nominations 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 78 – ‘The Holiday’ (Nancy Meyers, 2006) 
Hollywood Biopics and Mental Health Through the Lenses of ‘The Aviator’ (2004), ‘A Beautiful Mind’ (2001) and ‘Love & Mercy’ (2014) 
2024 Online Association of Female Film Critics (OAFFC) Winners: ‘The Substance” Dominates