Former Vice President Kamala Harris will receive the Chairman’s Award this weekend at the 56th NAACP Image Awards.
Harris is being honored for public service and driving change, the NAACP announced on Monday, Feb. 17.
“Vice President Kamala Harris is more than a leader — she is a force of change, driven by an unwavering passion to shape a brighter, more equitable future. It is with great honor that we present her with the Chairman’s Award at this year’s NAACP Image Awards, celebrating her relentless dedication to justice, equality, and the betterment of our society,” Leon W. Russell, chair of the NAACP National Board of Directors, said in a statement.
Harris made history as the first woman to serve as vice president of the U.S.
Then in 2024, she became the first Black and South Asian woman nominated for president by a major party, and received more than 75 million votes as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Before joining the Biden administration, she served as U.S. Senator representing California and as the state’s attorney general. Born in Oakland, Harris has said she was inspired by her activist parents to pursue a career in public service.
Related: 2025 NAACP Image Awards Nominations Announced
A trailblazer in every sense, Former Vice President @KamalaHarris will be honored with the prestigious Chairman’s Award at the 56th NAACP Image Awards. ??? pic.twitter.com/PdS9WaYQTH
— NAACP Image Awards® (@naacpimageaward) February 17, 2025
Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award include Samuel L. Jackson, the late U.S. Congressman John Lewis, Ruby Dee, Danny Glover, Tyler Perry, then-Senator Barack Obama, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and former Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.
The 56th NAACP Image Awards air live on Saturday, Feb. 22, from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium at 8:00 PM ET/PT on BET and CBS.
This year the broadcast will be extended to 2.5 hours. NAACP will also recognize winners in non–televised Image Awards categories virtually on Tuesday, Feb. 18 and Wednesday, Feb. 19 at youtube.com/naacpimageawards and at the 56th NAACP Image Awards Creative Honors Friday, February 21.
The NAACP, BET Media Group, JSSK and WME have partnered with Los Angeles County to launch the Altadena Community Preservation Fund, aimed to help protect homeowners from displacement and preserve the community’s cultural heritage after January’s Eaton Fire claimed lives and destroyed homes in the Altadena area.
The awards had faced criticism because residents displaced by the Eaton Fire were living at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, but were told they would have to move to another temporary shelter to make way for the Image Awards and America’s Got Talent auditions at the site.
The Red Cross said Civic Auditorium Complex management and the city of Pasadena had requested that the facility be returned after the first week of February, but as of last week it was still scrambling to find another shelter site.
According to published reports about 200 people remained at the facility last week.
In a statement to Urban Hollywood 411 on Friday, Feb. 14, the Red Cross said it had found another location to house the displaced residents.
“The Red Cross extends gratitude to the City of Pasadena for stepping up to provide space for an emergency shelter in the aftermath of January’s devastating wildfires. We also want to thank Los Angeles County for determining a new site to shelter displaced residents of LA County,” the organization said.
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