Queen Latifah to host NAACP Image Awards ceremony

Actress, singer and producer Queen Latifah was named Tuesday the host of the 54th NAACP Image Awards.

“It’s an honor to host the 54th NAACP Image Awards, especially in the year we are celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop,” Queen Latifah said in a statement. “This is a night to celebrate Black excellence and Black contribution to our industry and beyond. Celebrating one another, lifting each other up and you know we’ll have fun doing it.”

The Image Awards ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Among those scheduled to serve as presenters during the event are Brian White, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Damson Idris, Taye Diggs, Harold Perrineau, Issa Rae, Janelle Monáe, Janelle James, Jonathan Majors, Kerry Washington, Letitia Wright, Morris Chestnut, Ms. Pat, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, NAACP Chairman Leon W. Russell, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Terrence Howard, Tracee Ellis Ross and Zendaya.

During the ceremony, a Chairman’s Award will be presented to Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Mississippi, while civil rights attorney Ben Crump will receive a Social Justice Impact Award and Gabrielle Union-Wade and Dwyane Wade will receive a President’s Award. Derrick Lee Foward, president of the Dayton Unit of the NAACP, will be presented with the Activist of the Year Award, while a Youth Activist of the Year Award will be presented to Bradley Ross Jackson, president of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP Youth Council.

Many Image Award winners will be announced at a series of virtual and in-person events each night this week leading up to Saturday’s main ceremony. The presentations began virtually Monday night, with Beyoncé collecting three awards for outstanding female artist, best soul/R&B song and outstanding album. Rihanna, fresh off her Super Bowl halftime performance, collected a prize for outstanding video/visual album.

Saturday’s event will be the first in-person Image Awards ceremony in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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