NAACP Image Awards: ‘Insecure,’ ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Among Winners From Night Two of Non-Televised Ceremonies

The 2022 NAACP Image Awards is announcing winners in several non-televised categories via streaming presentations this week.

On Tuesday, the NAACP presented awards in a number of short-form, writing and directing categories. And the organization recognized its 2022 Activist of the Year: Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut state conference of NAACP branches.

On Tuesday night, Insecure, which went into the awards tied with The Harder They Fall for the most nominations at 12 each, picked up its first trophy, for best writing in a comedy series for the finale of Issa Rae’s HBO show. Also, Judas and the Black Messiah, which earned multiple Image Awards nominations this year, picked up two awards: best writing and directing in a motion picture.

Other notable winners from night two included The Daily Show‘s “Between the Scenes” segment (best short-form series – comedy or drama), Barry Jenkins for outstanding directing for a drama series for The Underground Railroad and Kenny Leon for best directing for a TV movie or special for Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia.

On Monday, the NAACP presented awards in a number of literary and podcast categories as well as a special award for youth activist of the year to NAACP Howard University chapter president Channing Hill.

Notable literary winners from night one included Will Smith (best biography/autobiography) for his eponymous memoir Will; the late Cicely Tyson, who ironically won the award for debut author for her memoir Just As I Am; Nikole Hannah-Jones’ 1619 Project (best non-fiction literary work); Tabitha Brown’s Feeding the Soul (Because It’s My Business), which won for instructional literary work; and Stacey Abrams and Kitt Thomas’ children’s book, Stacey’s Extraordinary Words. Hannah-Jones is also set to receive the Social Justice Impact Award from the NAACP, it was previously announced.

In the podcast categories, Jemele Hill is Unbothered won the arts and entertainment and the society and culture awards. Sherri Shepherd and Kym Whitley’s Two Funny Mamas won best lifestyle/self-help podcast.

The streaming, non-televised Image Awards ceremonies, hosted by actor-comedian Affion Crockett, will continue to be presented on YouTube and the NAACP Image Awards’ website every night at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT through Friday before the live show, hosted by Anthony Anderson, airs on BET on Saturday, March 26 at 8 p.m.

The NAACP Image Awards recognizes the achievements and performances of people of color across more than 80 categories, including, this year, four new podcast categories.

A complete list of the awards handed out the first two nights follows. See the winners from Night 3 here, from Night 4 here and from Night 5 here.

NIGHT TWO: Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022

Outstanding Short-Form Series – Comedy or Drama
Between the Scenes – The Daily Show (Comedy Central) (WINNER)
Dark Humor (Comedy Central / YouTube)
Della Mae (AspireTV)
The Disney Launchpad: Shorts Incubator (Disney+)
Two Sides: Unfaithful (Snapchat)

Outstanding Short-Form Series or Special – Reality/Nonfiction
Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day (Paramount+) (WINNER)
Life by the Horns (Snapchat)
Memory Builds The Monument (Fifth Ward CRC)
Widen the Screen: 8:46 Films (BET)
Through Our Eyes: Shelter (HBO Max)

Outstanding Short-Form (Live Action)
When The Sun Sets (Lakutshon’ Ilanga) (Universal Pictures) (WINNER)
Aurinko in Adagio (Universal Pictures)
Blackout (Netflix)
The Ice Cream Stop (Walt Disney Studios)
These Final Hours (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Short-Form (Animated)
Us Again (Walt Disney Animation Studios) (WINNER)
Blush (Apple TV+)
Robin Robin (Netflix)
She Dreams at Sunrise (Tribeca Studios, Procter & Gamble)
Twenty Something (Pixar Animation Studios)

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Issa Rae – Insecure – “Everything’s Gonna Be, Okay?!” (HBO) (WINNER)
Ashley Nicole Black – Ted Lasso – “Do the Right-est Thing” (Apple TV+)
Leann Bowen – Ted Lasso – “Lavender” (Apple TV+)
Maya Erskine – Pen15 – “Blue in Green” (Hulu)
Temi Wilkey – Sex Education – “Episode #3.6” (Netflix)

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Davita Scarlett – The Good Fight – “And the Firm Had Two Partners…” (Paramount+) (WINNER)
Aurin Squire – Evil – “C Is For Cop” (Paramount+)
Malcolm Spellman – The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – “New World Order” (Disney+)
Nkechi Okoro Carroll – All American – “Homecoming” (The CW)
Steven Canals, Janet Mock, Our Lady J, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy – Pose – “Series Finale” (FX Network)

Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special
Abdul Williams – Salt-N-Pepa (Lifetime Movie Network) (WINNER)
Mario Miscione , Marcella Ochoa – Madres (Amazon Studios)
Monique N. Matthew – A Holiday In Harlem (Hallmark Channel)
Sameer Gardezi – Hot Mess Holiday (Comedy Central)
Sherman Payne – Black As Night (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture
Shaka King, Will Berson, Kenny Lucas, Keith Lucas – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros. Pictures) (WINNER)
Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris – Zola (A24)
Jeymes Samuel, Boaz Yakin – The Harder They Fall (Netflix)
Virgil Williams – A Journal for Jordan (Columbia Pictures)
Win Rosenfeld, Nia DaCosta, Jordan Peele – Candyman (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
Bashir Salahuddin, Diallo Riddle – South Side – “Tornado” (HBO Max) (WINNER)
Melina Matsoukas – Insecure – “Reunited, Okay?!” (HBO)
Neema Barnette – Harlem – “Once Upon A Time in Harlem” (Amazon Studios)
Prentice Penny – Insecure – “Everything’s Gonna Be, Okay?!” (HBO)
Tiffany Johnson – Black Monday – “Eight!” (Showtime)

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
Barry Jenkins – The Underground Railroad – “Indiana Winter” (Amazon Studios) (WINNER)
Anthony Hemingway – Genius: Aretha “Respect” (National Geographic)
Carl Seaton – Snowfall – “Fight or Flight” (FX Network)
Carl Seaton – Godfather of Harlem – “The Bonanno Split” (EPIX)
Hanelle Culpepper – True Story – “Like Cain Did Abel” (Netflix)

Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special
Kenny Leon – Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (Lifetime) (WINNER)
Jaffar Mahmood – Hot Mess Holiday (Comedy Central)
Mario Van Peebles – Salt-N-Pepa (Lifetime)
Maritte Lee Go – Black As Night (Amazon Studios)
Veronica Rodriguez – Let’s Get Merried (VH1)

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture
Shaka King – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros. Pictures) (WINNER)
Denzel Washington – A Journal for Jordan (Columbia Pictures)
Jeymes Samuel – The Harder They Fall (Netflix)
Lin-Manuel Miranda – Tick, Tick … Boom! (Netflix)
Reinaldo Marcus Green – King Richard (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Samantha Knowles, Yoruba Richen, Geeta Gandbhir, Nadia Hallgren – Black and Missing (HBO) (WINNER)
Andre Gaines – The One and Only Dick Gregory (Showtime)
Dawn Porter – Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer (National Geographic)
Sam Pollard – MLK/FBI (IFC Films)
Spike Lee – NYC Epicenters 9/11➔2021½ (HBO Max)

NIGHT ONE: Monday, Feb. 21, 2022

Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
Long Division – Kiese Laymon (Simon & Schuster) (WINNER)
Harlem Shuffle – Colson Whitehead (Penguin Random House)
Libertie – Kaitlyn Greenidge (Algonquin Books)
The Man Who Lived Underground – Richard Wright (Library of America)
The Perishing – Natashia Deón (Counterpoint Press)

Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story – Nikole Hannah-Jones (Penguin Random House) (WINNER)
Dance Theatre of Harlem – Judy Tyrus, Paul Novosel (Kensington)
Just As I Am – Cicely Tyson (Amistad)
My Remarkable Journey – Katherine Johnson (Amistad)
Renegades: Born in the USA – Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen (Penguin Random House)

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
Just As I Am – Cicely Tyson (Amistad) (WINNER)
My Remarkable Journey – Katherine Johnson (Amistad)
Other Black Girl: A Novel – Zakiya Dalila Harris (Simon & Schuster)
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois – Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (HarperCollins Publishers)
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts – Rebecca Hall (Simon & Schuster)

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
Will – Will Smith (Penguin Random House) (WINNER)
Just As I Am – Cicely Tyson (Amistad)
Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement – Tarana Burke (Macmillan / Flatiron Books)
Unprotected: A Memoir – Billy Porter (Abrams Press)
Until I Am Free – Keisha Blain (Beacon Press)

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
Feeding the Soul (Because It’s My Business) – Tabitha Brown (HarperCollins Publishers) (WINNER)
Diversity Is Not Enough: A Roadmap to Recruit, Develop and Promote Black Leaders in America – Keith Wyche (Kandelle Publishing)
Permission to Dream – Chris Gardner (Amistad)
Teaching Black History to White People – Leonard N. Moore (University of Texas Press)
The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth About Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations – Robert Livingston (Penguin Random House)

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
Perfect Black – Crystal Wilkinson (University Press of Kentucky) (WINNER)
Playlist for the Apocalypse – Rita Dove (W. W. Norton & Company)
Such Color: New and Selected Poems – Tracy K. Smith (Graywolf Press)
The Wild Fox of Yemen – Threa Almontaser (Graywolf Press)
What Water Knows: Poems – Jacqueline Jones LaMon (Northwestern University Press)

Outstanding Literary Work – Children
Stacey’s Extraordinary Words – Stacey Abrams, Kitt Thomas (HarperCollins) (WINNER)
Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy – Misty Copeland (Aladdin)
Change Sings – Amanda Gorman, Loren Long (Penguin Young Readers)
Time for Bed, Old House – Janet Costa Bates, A.G. Ford (Candlewick Press)
When Langston Dances – Kaija Langley, Keith Mallett (S&S Books for Young Readers)

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens
Ace of Spades – Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Feiwel & Friends / Macmillan) (WINNER)
Happily Ever Afters – Elise Bryant (HarperCollins)
The Cost of Knowing – Brittney Morris (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)
When You Look Like Us – Pamela N. Harris (HarperCollins)
Wings of Ebony – J. Elle (S&S Books for Young Readers)

Outstanding News and Information Podcast
Blindspot: Tulsa Burning (WINNER)
#SundayCivics
After the Uprising: The Death of Danyé Dion Jones
Into America
Un(re)solved

Outstanding Lifestyle/Self-Help Podcast
Two Funny Mamas: Sherri Shepherd & Kym Whitley (WINNER)
Checking In with Michelle Williams
The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema
The SonRise Project Podcast
Under Construction w/ Tamar Braxton

Outstanding Society and Culture Podcast
Jemele Hill is Unbothered (WINNER)
Beyond the Scenes – The Daily Show
Professional Troublemaker
Questlove Supreme
Super Soul Podcast

Outstanding Arts and Entertainment Podcast
Jemele Hill is Unbothered (WINNER)
Club Shay Shay podcast with Shannon Sharpe
Questlove Supreme
Reasonably Shady
The History of Sketch Comedy with Keegan-Michael Key

This story was originally published Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. with the night one winners.