Queen Latifah To Host This Year’s NAACP Image Awards

By Okla Jones ·Updated February 21, 2023

Today, BET and NAACP announced that award-winning entertainer Queen Latifah will host the 54TH NAACP Image Awards on February 25.

“It’s an honor to host the 54th NAACP Image Awards, especially in the year we are celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop,” said Queen Latifiah in a press release. “This is a night to celebrate Black excellence and Black contribution to our industry and beyond. Celebrating one another, lifting each other up and you know we’ll have fun doing it!”

This year’s highly-anticipated ceremony will also feature a star-studded list of presenters taking the stage, such as Issa Rae, Letitia Wright, Damson Idris, Taye Diggs, Harold Perrineau, Janelle Monáe, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Jonathan Majors, Kerry Washington, Brian White, Morris Chestnut, Ms. Pat, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, NAACP Chairman Leon W. Russell, Terrence Howard, Zendaya, Janelle James, and Sheryl Lee Ralph,

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 16: Jonathan Majors attends the “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania” UK Gala Screening at BFI IMAX Waterloo on February 16, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images)

“This year’s NAACP Image Awards will be an amazing celebration, highlighting the major accomplishments of artists, writers, entertainers, activists and other changemakers,” said Johnson. It will also be a night that shows how we come together as a community to make a powerful impact on amplifying our stories around the world.”

Dr. Derrick Lee Foward, President of the Dayton Unit of the NAACP and a Vice President of the Ohio NAACP, will receive the Activist of the Year Award, the Youth Activist of the Year Award will be presented to Bloomington-Normal NAACP Youth Council President Bradley Ross Jackson, who helped to organize a peaceful protest of 1,000 people to demand justice for the murder of George Floyd, one of the largest demonstrations held in Bloomington’s history.

Previously announced honorees include U.S. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson, who will be honored with the prestigious Chairman’s Award, Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump will receive the Social Justice Impact Award, and Gabrielle Union-Wade and Dwyane Wade will receive the President’s Award.

The 54th NAACP Image Awards will air LIVE on Saturday, February 25, at 8:00 PM ET/PT on BET and across all Paramount Global networks including BET HER, CBS, CMT, Comedy Central, LOGO, MTV, MTV2, Paramount Network, POP TV, Smithsonian, TV Land, and VH1.