NAACP honors the arts

It was a night of glitz, glamour and glory, as a who's who of Black Hollywood came out for the 34th NAACP Image Awards held March 8 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

The theme of the evening was "Image- A- Nation" and who could imagine a more fitting celebration of Black greatness than the recognition given to honorees from television, movies, music and the literary arts for their contributions to American entertainment.

The show, hosted by comedian Cedric the Entertainer, began with a stirring rendition of The Temptations' "Get Ready" by the amazing and energetic Jackson State University marching band from Mississippi.

Cedric mentioned that it had been a "great year for African Americans," referring to the Oscar wins last year by Halle Berry for her role in Monster's Ball and Denzel Washington for Training Day. But this evening the two A-list stars would be honored by their own. In fact, the evening's presentations were more reminiscent of a good old-fashioned reunion than a formal black-tie awards show.

Cedric, who won an award for his work on the animated comedy series The Proud Family, was at ease as everyone's favorite uncle and made the show "feel like one big 'proud' family." There was laughter and tears, music and poetry, accolades and just plain acting up. But most of all, there was a sense of pride that beamed from entrance to exit and filled every seat in the house. Black America was at last being acknowledged for its accomplishments.

The audience of NAACP members and fans marveled at seeing their favorite stars up close and were excited as each talented celebrity graced the stage to perform, present or accept an award. Cheers, shouts and standing ovations were sprinkled throughout the night.

The presenters helped keep the show upbeat, despite long breaks that occurred because the event was being taped to air on the Fox channel several days later. They brought style, funk and soul, making the program one of the most unique entertainment industry events. Presenters included: Rapper Eve; Erykah Badu, who was sporting a bigger-than-life Angela Davis afro; models Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell; action hero Vin Diesel and box office favorite Meg Ryan, who stars in a new movie about boxing with Omar Epps.

Three special awards were handed out during the evening. Actor and activist Danny Glover received the chairman's award; tennis powerhouses Venus and Serena Williams received the president's award and filmmaker Spike Lee was honored with the NAACP's Hall of Fame award.

Actor Edward Norton, who starred in Lee's latest movie, 25th Hour, spoke of "how deeply imbued his [Lee's] films are with morality and compassion."

"His films examine the moral challenges of living in the world today," Norton said. "Spike inspires me."

Legendary actress Diahann Carroll and Grammy-winning musician Carlos Santana presented the award for outstanding supporting actress in a motion picture to a surprised Halle Berry for her role as a Bond girl in the latest James Bond flick, Die Another Day.

Berry spoke of the importance of the NAACP award.

"There is no better way to end this journey that I've been on," said Berry. "This has been an amazing year."

Singer India.Arie, who had been snubbed by mainstream award shows last year, took home three NAACP trophies, including outstanding female artist. She echoed Berry's sentiments, saying, "as much as I try to act like awards don't matter, this one does."

Comedian Steve Harvey left everyone in stitches when he presented the outstanding comedy series award to buddy Bernie Mac.

"It's a beautiful thing when people dig you," said Mac, who also won the award for best actor in a comedy series for The Bernie Mac Show. "It's not about win or lose as long as you represent well."

Angela Bassett won outstanding actress in a motion picture for her leading performance in Sunshine State. Other big winners of the evening were Denzel Washington and the Showtime series Soul Food. Washington won for outstanding supporting actor for the movie Antwone Fisher and outstanding actor in the movie John Q. Soul Food received awards for outstanding drama series and an outstanding actress in a drama series for Vanessa Williams.

Soul Food executive producer Tracey Edmonds, wife of super music producer Babyface, said that if it wasn't for the NAACP, "we would not have the opportunity to have a Black dramatic series on the air."

The film Barbershop, featuring Image Awards show host Cedric the Entertainer, didn't receive any awards. Civil rights activists Jesse L. Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton had called for a boycott of Barbershop after Cedric's character made controversial remarks about Rosa Parks. Ironically, The Rosa Parks Story received two awards - outstanding television movie, miniseries or dramatic special and Bassett's best actress win in the same category.

"Mrs. Parks - her strength, her integrity, her courage, her belief - that's what I carry in my heart," said Bassett. "I get so much inspiration from my community. There's just so much that is extraordinary about us."

Copyright Crisis Publishing Company, Incorporated May/Jun 2003
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