The 55th

NAACP Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

, presented by the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

, honored outstanding representations and achievements of

people of color The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

in motion pictures, television, music, and literature during the 2023 calendar year. The ceremony was hosted by

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe ...

and aired on March 16, 2024, on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

and simulcasted on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. Non–televised Image Awards categories were livestreamed March 11–14th on the Image Awards website. Submissions were received online from July 31 to November 3, 2023, and public online voting on the shortlisted nominations for performance categories are set to run from January 25 to February 24, 2024, on the Image Awards website. The nominations were announced on January 25, 2024, with the film ''The Color Purple'' and actor

Colman Domingo Colman Jason Domingo (born November 28, 1969) is an American actor, playwright, and director. Prominent Colman Domingo on screen and stage, on both screen and stage since the 2010s, Domingo has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

leading the motion picture categories with 16 and 3 nominations, respectively, and

Ayo Edebiri Ayo Edebiri ( ; born October 3, 1995) is an American actress, comedian, and television writer. Since 2022, she has played chef Sydney Adamu in the comedy-drama series '' The Bear'', for which she won a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guil ...

leading the nominations for television and streaming categories with two for ''

Abbott Elementary ''Abbott Elementary'' is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Quinta Brunson for ABC. It stars Brunson as Janine Teagues, a perpetually optimistic second-grade teacher at the underfunded Abbott Elementary, a fictional p ...

'' and '' The Bear''. In the recording categories,

Victoria Monét Victoria Monét McCants (born May 1, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. First gaining recognition for her songwriting work, Monét pursued a recording career with the release of a series of extended plays (EPs); her fifth, ''Jaguar'' (2020) ...

and Usher led the nominations with six and five nominations, respectively. RCA Records collectively led the nominations in the recording categories with 20 nominations, while

HarperCollins Publishers HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is ...

and

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

led the literary categories with seven and four nods, respectively. Poet, writer and activist

Amanda Gorman Amanda S. C. Gorman (born March 7, 1998) is an American poet, activist, and model. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. Gorman was the first person to be named National ...

was honored with the Chairman's Award. Creative director and costume designer

June Ambrose June Ambrose (born 5 June 1971) is an Antiguan-born American stylist, costume designer, author, creative director, influencer, and TV host. She is currently the creative director of women's basketball for Puma. Ambrose is best known for styling ...

received the Vanguard Award at the previous award ceremony's NAACP Fashion Show on March 15, 2024. The film ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker that won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.The Best Man'' (1999), ''

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

'' (2018) and '' Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey'' (2020) which were all tied for 10 nominations.

Category changes

Eight new categories were created: * Outstanding Youth Performance in a Motion Picture * Outstanding Cinematography in a Motion Picture * Outstanding Short Form Documentary Motion Picture * Outstanding Original Score for TV/Film * Outstanding Scripted Series Podcast * Outstanding Limited Series/Short Form Podcast * Outstanding Graphic Novel * Outstanding Stunt Ensemble

Category changes

Winners and nominees

Special Awards

Motion Picture

Television

Drama

Comedy

Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special

Overall Acting

Reality and Variety

Other Categories

Documentary

Costume Design, Make-up and Hairstyling

Stunt

Recording

Podcast and Social Media

Literary

References