celebration of black cinema and television

Kid Cudi, Berry Gordy, Angela Bassett, Michael B. Jordan and Quinta Brunson are slated to be among the honorees at the fifth annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television. Hosted by actor/comedian Bill Bellamy, the event will take place on Monday, Dec. 5 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
The celebration, sponsored by the Critics Choice Association, will recognize honorees in 15 categories.

“The Celebration of Black Cinema & Television has grown tremendously over the last five years,” CCA CEO Joey Berlin said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be able to recognize such outstanding projects across both film and television, and to honor these incredible actors and filmmakers for their work.”

“It has truly been a year to celebrate,” added CCA board member Shawn Edwards, who is serving as executive producer of the event. “The unprecedented amount of content about the Black experience on film and television made it very difficult to choose our honorees for this milestone year. And our special Icon Award honoree, Berry Gordy, pushed open a heavy door during the ’70s and ’80s through his Motown Productions with a string of movies and TV series that helped pave the way for future Black storytellers.”

The show will be televised on KTLA in January and shown nationwide on Nexstar stations throughout the month of February to tie in with Black History Month.

The show is produced by Madelyn Hammond and Javier Infante of Madelyn Hammond & Associates.

The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the U.S. and Canada, representing nearly 600 media critics and entertainment journalists. It was established in 2019 with the formal merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

Here’s a complete list of this year’s honorees:

Kid Cudi: The musician and actor, born Scott Mescudi, will be honored with the Groundbreaker Award for his starring role as Jabari in the Netflix television event, Entergalactic, which he also created. Cudi won a Grammy 11 years ago for his featured role on Kanye West’s “All of the Lights,” which was named best rap/sung collaboration.

Berry Gordy: The songwriter, producer, director, entrepreneur and Motown founder, will receive the Icon Award for his contributions to music, film and popular culture. Gordy will also be honored, alongside his lifelong friend Smokey Robinson, at the MusiCares person of the year gala on Feb. 3, 2023.

Angela Bassett: The actress, who received a 1993 Oscar nomination for portraying Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It, will receive the Career Achievement Award for her career as well as her recent role as Queen Ramonda in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Michael B. Jordan: The actor, producer and director will receive the Melvin Van Peebles Trailblazer Award for his contributions to the industry and in celebration of his directorial debut with the United Artists Releasing film, Creed III. In addition to directing the film, he reprises his role as Adonis Creed, and also produces under his Outlier Society production banner. Jordan received an Emmy nomination four years ago as an executive producer of HBO’s Fahrenheit 451, a nominee for outstanding television movie.

Quinta Brunson: The multihyphenate, who received Emmy nominations this year for acting, executive producing and writing on Abbott Elementary, will receive the Actress Award for Television for her work on ABC’s hit series, which she created and also executive produces. Brunson won an Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series.

Danielle Deadwyler: The actress will be honored with the Actress Award for Film for her role as Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of the murdered Emmett Till, in the Orion Pictures and United Artists Releasing film, Till.

Nicco Annan: The actor will receive the Actor Award for Television for his role as Uncle Clifford on the STARZ series, P-Valley.

Elegance Bratton: The writer and director will accept the Social Justice Award for his work on the A24 film, The Inspection.

Brian Tyree Henry: The actor will be awarded the Supporting Actor Award for his performance as James Aucoin in Apple Original Films and A24’s Causeway.

Ayo Edebiri: The actress and comedian will receive the Rising Star Award presented by IMDbPro for her role as Sydney Adamu on the FX series, The Bear.

Quincy Isaiah The actor is the other recipient of the Rising Star Award presented by IMDbPro for his role as Magic Johnson in the HBO Original series, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.

Jonathan Majors: The actor will be presented with the Actor Award for Film for his role as Jesse Brown in Columbia Pictures and Black Label Media aerial war epic, Devotion. Majors received an Emmy nomination last year for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for HBO’s Lovecraft Country.

Gina Prince-Bythewood: The director will receive the Director Award for Film for her work on TriStar Pictures and Entertainment One’s critically-acclaimed The Woman King.

Nikyatu Jusu: The writer/director will receive the Breakthrough Film Award for the Amazon Studios and Blumhouse film, Nanny.

The Wonder Years cast: The Ensemble Award will be presented to the cast of the reboot of ABC’s 1980s sitcom — Elisha “EJ” Williams, Dulé Hill, Saycon Sengbloh, Laura Kariuki, Julian Lerner, Amari O’Neil, and Milan Ray.