Barack Obama’s memoir “A Promised Land,” the documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble” and the ESPN docuseries on Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan “The Last Dance” have won NAACP Image Awards for 2021, the organization announced Monday.
The NAACP is rolling out its winners for the 52nd NAACP Image Awards this week, revealing a slate of winners across various categories each night leading up until the televised awards show on Saturday, March 27.
This first crop of winners was announced in a virtual experience that is airing each night this week through the NAACP Image Awards website, and Monday recognized the best work by Black artists in literature and documentaries.
Obama’s book “A Promised Land” won Outstanding Literary Work in the Nonfiction category, and Dawn Porter’s documentary film “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” about the Georgia representative’s career-long fight for civil rights, won as the best documentary film. “The Last Dance” won for a documentary for TV.
Other winners included the late Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings for his debut book “We’re Better Than This” and Walter Mosley for his story collection, “The Awkward Black Man.” “Mr. SOUL,” which tells the story of Black talk show host Ellis Haizlip, won in the documentary category for Outstanding Writing.
Other awards including for scripted TV, below the line categories in film, non-scripted TV and in music will be announced on subsequent nights. Check out the winners from Night 1 of the NAACP Virtual Experience below:
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