Will Smith, who received two Oscar nominations for his work in King Richard, won an NAACP Image Award for outstanding literary work – biography/autobiography for Will on Monday (Feb. 21).
The NAACP Image Awards are following the lead of the Primetime Emmys’ Creative Arts Awards in stripping their “pre-telecast” awards across an entire week. The focus on opening night was on literary categories and four inaugural podcast categories.
“Jemele Hill Is Unbothered” was the night’s only double winner. It won for outstanding society and culture podcast and outstanding arts and entertainment podcast.
Non-televised awards will be announced nightly through Friday Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on naacpimageawards.net and the NAACP Image Awards YouTube channel.
Monday, Feb. 21
Literary Categories
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction:
Long Division – Kiese Laymon (Simon & Schuster)
Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction:
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story – Nikole Hannah-Jones (Penguin Random House)
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author:
Just as I Am – Cicely Tyson (Amistad)
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography:
Will – Will Smith (Penguin Random House)
Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional:
Feeding the Soul (Because It’s My Business) – Tabitha Brown (HarperCollins Publishers)
Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry:
Perfect Black – Crystal Wilkinson (University Press of Kentucky)
Outstanding Literary Work – Children:
Stacey’s Extraordinary Words – Stacey Abrams, Kitt Thomas (HarperCollins)
Rising star Camari Brown is stepping into the spotlight in more ways than one. The Cleveland, Ohio native has truly made a name for himself as a commercial actor and model, but he is so much more than that. Growing up some of his biggest inspirations were Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx and The Wayans Brothers but never in his wildest dreams did he think that he could one day follow in their footsteps. Over the years he would slowly but surely put in the work to take his career in Entertainment to the next level starting by leaving everything he know and moving to NYC. Within time with help from his acting coach Marc John Jeffries, hard work and determination he slowly but surely started to book gigs as a working actor.
His first big break on television was on the hit OWN TV series ‘Checked Inn’ which was just the beginning of so much more for the rising star. Camari would go on to book numerous tv spots for Amazon Fire TV, LG Gram, Kiehls, Dish Network, LL Bean, Mediacom, Met-rx and Netflix’s ‘Okja’. The versatile actor flexed his chops as a guest star on hit series ‘Law & Order SVU’, ’Blue Bloods’,’The Blacklist’, ‘Crime Stoppers Case Files’ and ‘Deadline : Crime with Tamron Hall’. He most recently can be seen in Grammy & Academy Award winning superstar H.E.R video for her single ‘Fight For You’ which has been in heavy rotation, while he also continued to make waves as a comedic actor on and off the stage. You can currently catch him on The Applause Network as a host and content creator, but when he’s not on your screen he’s constantly perfecting his craft as a comic on stage at LOL comedy club and Broadway Comedy Club.
Now if you understand the grind of making it in the entertainment business, then you know that multiple streams or income is truly the only way to thrive. Over the past year the budding entrepreneur decided to come up with the concept of a special trivia game based on 25 classic black films. With help from his family he slowly but surely created ‘Hood Movie Trivia’ and within time and precise execution his latest venture came to life. The special trivia game based on classic films like ‘Menace II Society’, ‘Boyz In The Hood’, ‘The Players Club’, ’ATL’, ‘Baby Boy’, ‘Belly’, ‘Juice’ ‘New Jack City’, ‘Shottas’, ‘Paid In Full’ and ‘South Central’ are sure to bring friends and family together for hours of fun. Pick up the game now available at HoodMovieTrivia.com while supplies last.
In celebration of Beyonce’s latest album, “Renaissance”, she through a very private party full of industry elites. Reports say that guests were asked to be tested for COVID the day of the party. They were also asked not to take photos or videos inside the party. It was very, ‘what happens here, stays here‘.
Donald Glover, Janelle Monae, Jill Scott, Leonardo Dicaprio, Kendrick Lamar, Dapper Dan, Matthew Knowles, Yara Shahidi, Questlove, Journey Smollett, Tyler Perry, Telfar Clemens, Beyoncé Knowles-Lawson, Richard Lawson, Lala Anthony, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Chloe Bailey, Trevor Noah, The Dream, Marni Senofonte, Normani , Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Williams, Lena Waithe & Snoh Aalegra all attend Beyonce’s Renaissance release party at The Edition hotel in Time Square.
Jamil Charles more known as Kid Ape is a highly in demand artist who paints some of the finest portraits and murals. The Miami native has truly made his mark on the art world and is clearly enjoying the ride as he continues to develop his craft as an artist and cultural creator. As a kid he loved to draw and sketch but he never knew how far his love for art will take him all over. Though for a while he gave up his passion for art while in college and his career in the corporate world, but after years of testing his creativity he decided to unlock a different side of his artistry as a writer. He slowly but surely put together multiple short stories which he then turned into a fiction novel titled ‘Red Art City‘. With the success of his novel he knew it was time to tap back into his gift of drawing and within in time he was back to making portraits and painting murals which caught the attention of many after he gifted Chris Cunningham his own special portrait. He then met his business partner Eli Massillon who helped to keep him booked as an artist with commissioned portraits for Snoop Dogg, Grandmaster Flash, Steve Lobel and Don Benjamin. If that wasn’t enough , many clients requested for him to do murals in their spaces which continued to further his brand with his one of a kind pieces that surely keep him in demand.
Follow Kid Ape on social media at @RealKidApe and make sure to check out his work via his website www.RedArtCity.com