Viola Davis has won rave reviews and numerous accolades over the years with memorable and significant acting roles in film and television.
There was the Oscar-nominated performance for “The Help” in 2011, which launched her career. She earned another Oscar nomination for the movie “Doubt” in 2008. She received an Oscar for her performance in “Fences” in 2016 and a nomination in the best actress category for her portrayal of Blues singer Ma Rainey in the Netflix drama” Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in 2021.
The Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for ABC’s “How To Get Away With Murder,” made her the first black woman in history to take home the award.
Known for her oratory skills and inspirational speeches, last night while accepting her NAACP Chairman’s Award, she delivered yet another motivational speech.
“Our crown has already been bought and paid for. All we have to do is wear it,” Davis ended, citing a quote from renowned American novelist and civil rights activist James Baldwin.
Davis, along with husband Julius Tennon run the production company JuVee Productions which aims to embrace diverse voices.
The NAACP Chairman’s Award is given in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service. Past honorees include Tyler Perry, Former Vice President Al Gore and Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai, Aretha Franklin, Bono, then-Senator Barack Obama, Danny Glover, and Forest Whitaker.
At the annual award show which honors the accomplishments of people of color, “Sinner’s” actors Miles Caton and Wunmi Mosaku received acting nods for the Warner Bros. Pictures movie. The Outstanding Talk Series award went to “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”
In the literary section, Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor received the Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction for her Sci-Fi novel “Death of the Author”
Presenters included Delroy Lindo, NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson and chairman Leon W. Russell, Halle Bailey, Nicole Beharie, Regé-Jean Page, Regina Hall and Ryan Coogler who also received the Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture for movie “Sinners.”
Deon Cole hosted the ceremony, which took place at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California. The awards ceremony on Saturday was broadcast live on CBS and streamed live on BET.
By Samantha Ofole-Prince
