Voting is now open to the public for select categories in the 54th NAACP Image Awards.
The Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch of the NAACP was founded in 1962. It was the first branch of the NAACP to deal specifically with the racism experienced by African Americans in the entertainment industry.
The first NAACP Image Awards for motion pictures and television took place in 1967. The awards now cover 76 categories, honoring outstanding achievements by people of color in the arts, as well as individuals and groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.
Jazz-related nominees for this year's NAACP Image Awards are:
- Trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard, for his soundtrack to the film The Woman King. The film itself is nominated for Outstanding Motion Picture.
- Netflix movie A Jazzman's Blues, a story about a musical family and a forbidden love, is also nominated for Outstanding Motion Picture.
- Louis Armstrong's Black and Blues is nominated as an Outstanding Documentary Film, and its director Sacha Jenkins is nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Documentary.
- Outstanding Jazz Album nominees include The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni, a collaboration between saxophonist Javon Jackson and poet Nikki Giovanni.
- For the Outstanding Vocal Album category, Samara Joy's Linger Awhile, Terri Lyne Carrington's New Standards and The Baylor Project's The Evening all made the nomination list.
The NAACP Image Awards show will be broadcast Saturday, Feb. 25 on BET.
