51st NAACP Image Awards | Image courtesy of NAACP Image Awards
CalArtians Don Cheadle (Theater BFA 86) and Vashti Harrison (Film/Video MFA 14) are nominees in the 51st annual NAACP Image Awards.
Established in 1968, the NAACP Image Awards celebrates “outstanding achievements of people of color in the arts,” including film, television, music and literature. The awards span 60 categories, including honorary awards like the Chairman’s Award, the President’s Award, the Vanguard Award and the Jackie Robinson Sports Award, in addition to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.
The Nominees for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series are @anthonyanderson, @CedEntertainer, @doncheadle, @therock, and @tracymorgan #NAACPImageAwards pic.twitter.com/4wQV10NMg6
— NAACP Image Awards® (@naacpimageaward) January 9, 2020
Cheadle is nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of ambitious stock broker Maurice “Mo” Monroe on Showtime’s Black Monday, a comedic chronicle of the 31st anniversary of Wall Street’s 1987 stock market crash. A January 2019 TV Line review claimed that Cheadle’s “performance alone makes Black Monday worth watching: Maurice is a force of nature, literally kicking down doors to secure a spot for himself in the rich old white men’s club.” Cheadle previously earned a Black Monday nomination for the 2019 Emmy Awards, and is a three-time NAACP Image Award recipient: Best Directing in a Comedy Series for House of Lies (2016), Best Actor in a Comedy Series for House of Lies (2013) and Best Literary Work, Nonfiction for Not on Our Watch (2008).
Incredible! Thanks for this honor @naacpimageaward. Shout out to @VashtiHarrison, @monicaayoung, @NDambi, @tweetpathi, @KokilaBooks, & everyone who donated to our Kickstarter campaign & helped work on the book. What an amazing group of authors & illustrators to be nominated with! pic.twitter.com/f6689dAu3K
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) January 9, 2020
Harrison is twice nominated in the Outstanding Literary Work for Children category for her illustrations in Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love (Kokila) and Lupita Nyong’o’s Sulwe (Simon & Schuster, BFYR). (The short film version of Hair Love just earned an Academy Award nomination, too.) Harrison previously received the 2018 NAACP Image Award in the same category for her debut illustrated book Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History (Little Brown Books), which spent eight weeks on The New York Times’ Best Sellers List (Children’s Middle Grade Hardcover).
View the complete list of 2020 nominees here.
Tune in to the NAACP Image Awards telecast on Saturday, Feb. 22, live on BET Networks at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.