Over the weekend, the NAACP Awards celebrated it’s 50th year and per usual, people of color were recognized, from Maxine Walters and many more. Artists an Actors were awarded such as:
Chadwick Boseman for winning Outstanding Actor in a Film for “Black Panther”
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Taraji P Henson for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for the show Empire
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Anthony Anderson Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for the ABC Show Blackish
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Tracee Ellis Ross Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for the ABC Show Blackish
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Jay-Z received the President Award and Beyonce received the Entertainer of the Year Award.
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I think it is important for black award shows like this to be in a category of their own peers. I understand that being in a category with other peers of difference genres of music and different movie categories, that it is more important to win because you beat out a wider range of nominees, but “competing” against your own peers and being positively recognized for it is definitely a plus. I think that us as an audience and others as a creative should be more thankful and appreciative of these kind of awards.
So I caught the Black Girls Rock special last night and I was so proud! Seeing women that look like me achieve a rare accomplishment, especially from where we started. Their motto is “Celebrating beauty, brilliant and resilience of black women around the world.”
My celeb bae, SZA, started the show out singing Normal Girl, which is one of my favorite songs on the CTRL album.
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Then one of my favorite actor/actress Taraji P Henson was the host and started off with a few jokes about hair and how she embraces it and is brave about what she does with. She recently just chopped it off and it looks LOVELY on her!
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The first award of the night was presented to Yara Shahidi, for the “Young, Black and Gifted.” She is one of the main characters on the show Black-ish, and she recently got a spin-off show called Grown-ish that explores her college life. Coincidentally, she is starting college at Harvard in the Fall of 2018. GO YARA!!!!
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A woman, whom I wasn’t familiar with, name Suzanne Shanks was presented with the Shot Caller award for her work on Wall Street, financing infrastructure projects. She is the CEO of Siebert Branford Shanks & Co, LLC AND CEO of Siebert Financial Corporation. She is the first black woman to lead a publicly traded financial institution. KUDOS to Ms. Suzanne!!!!
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The creator and star of one of my favorite shows Insecure, Issa Rae was presented with the Star Power awards, for her excellent work on Insecure and making it one of the main topics on a Sunday night.
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Lastly, AUNTIE Maxine Waters took the cake with her speech and overall using her platform to be speak up about this “President” of ours.
Here are a few quotes she said last night:
“I am you and you are me. We have power & influence”
“Not only will we resist you but we will impeach you, Mr. President.”
“I don’t care how big you think you are. I care how high you think you are…if you come for me, I’m coming for you!”
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YES MA’AM AUNTIE MAXINE!! She says she is reclaiming her time hunny and I aint mad at her!!
ALL of these Black Women Rock!!! Watching these awards gave me a slight boost of confidence and made me realize.. don’t be afraid to be different, being awkward is okay, think for yourself and lastly SPEAK UP!!
Danii Gold 