As Taraji P. Henson took home the prize for outstanding actress in a drama series at the NAACP Image Awards on Friday night, she left viewers and the audience with a little something as well: “We don’t have to ask for acceptance from anyone,” the star of Fox’s hit soap “Empire” told the crowd at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. “We are enough and we’ve always been enough.”
Henson -- whose “Empire” husband, Terrence Howard, also won a top acting prize -- didn’t have to spell out who she was referring to.
The 47th Annual Image Awards ceremony, which honors people of color in the entertainment industry, arrives amid a widespread debate over diversity in this year’s Academy Award nominations.
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Actors Gabrielle Union, left, and Keegan-Michael Key ignite laughs onstage.
(Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards)
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Michael B. Jordan wins awards for outstanding actor in a motion picture award for “Creed” and Entertainer of the Year.
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Actress Viola Davis presents the award for outstanding actor in a motion picture.
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Actor Don Cheadle, from left, director Spike Lee, actors Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Laurence Fishburne and Terrence Howard are among the A-listers at the ceremony.
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Actress Taraji P. Henson accepts the award for outstanding actress in a drama series for “Empire.”
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Actors Morris Chestnut, left, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell announce the nominees in the actress in a drama series category.
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Director F. Gary Gray accepts award for outstanding motion picture for “Straight Outta Compton” with several cast members.
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Actors Darby Stanchfield, left, and Kerry Washington join the festivities.
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Actor Terrence Howard accepts the award for outstanding actor in a drama series for “Empire.”
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Actors Tika Sumpter, left, and Ken Jeong have fun onstage as Jeong pretends to receive an award himself.
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Recording artist John Legend performs onstage before receiving the President’s Award.
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Singer-songwriter John Legend accepts the President’s Award.
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Actresses LeToya Luckett, left, and Wendy Raquel Robinson pair up to announce a winning contender.
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The cast and crew of “Black-ish” accept the award for outstanding comedy series.
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Actor Sylvester Stallone introudces the film “Creed.”
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Actors (and spouses) Julius Tennon and Viola Davis strike a pose.
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David Ramsey, left, and Teyonah Parris present the award for outstanding drama series.
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Actress Tracee Ellis Ross celebrates her win for outstanding actress in a comedy series for “Black-ish.”
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Rapper-actor-producer Ice Cube, left, and his son, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr., work the camera.
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Actresses Gabrielle Union, from left, Taraji P. Henson, Loretta Devine, Tika Sumpter and Jada Pinkett Smith shine for the camera.
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Director Spike Lee and actress Teyonah Parris from the film “Chi-Raq” graced the affair.
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Actor Anthony Anderson accepts the award for outstanding actor in a comedy series for “Black-ish.”
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Actresses Kerry Washington, left, and Gina Rodriguez take the stage.
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Model Chrissy Teigen, left, and her husband, singer-songwriter John Legend, graced the affair.
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Actor Jussie Smollett sings one of John Legend’s hit songs.
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Actors Will Smith, right, and Jada Pinkett Smith join the festivities.
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Alice Smith gives a rendition of “Glory,” a song for which John Legend and Common won an Academy Award.
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Actresses Gabrielle Union, from left, Loretta Devine and Tika Sumpter share a laugh.
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Actress Sanaa Lathan accepts the award for outstanding actress in a motion picture for “The Perfect Guy.”
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Actor O’Shea Jackson Jr., left, and his father, rapper-actor-producer Ice Cube, present the award for oustanding actress in a motion picture.
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Host Anthony Anderson raps onstage to boot.
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Roslyn Brock, NAACP chairman of the National Board of Directors, honors the nominees.
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Actors Will Smith, left, and Terrence Howard catch up at the awards show.
(Charley Gallay / Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards)
Director Spike Lee, who has said he will not attend the Feb. 28 Oscar telecast as part of a boycott to protest the lack of diversity in the major acting categories, was seen in a reaction shot as singer John Legend gave an impassioned speech about racism.
Friday’s two-hour ceremony, telecast live on TV One, started off with a musical number. Host Anthony Anderson was costumed as 1990s-era Ice Cube and rapping as part of the group N.W.A.
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“Don’t call it a comeback,” Anderson said after he shed the costume, paraphrasing another rapper, LL Cool J. “We’ve been here for years.”
Later in the evening, Anderson won his second Image award as the patriarch in ABC’s family sitcom “black-ish,” and the show also took the top prize for comedy. Tracee Ellis Ross -- daughter of Diana Ross -- took the comedy actress award for playing Anderson’s wife on the series. “Empire” won for top drama.
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Will Smith and Jada-Pinkett Smith grace the affair.
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Gabrielle Union shines on the red carpet.
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Bryshere Y. Gray from “Empire” joins the festivities.
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Amber Riley works the camera.
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O’shea Jackson and father Ice Cube pause on the red carpet.
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Robin Givens gives Golden Brooks a big hug on the carpet.
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Michael B. Jordan was among the A-listers at the party.
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Yara Shahidi, left, with Kerry Washington, center, pause for photographers.
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Teyonah Parris offers a warm smile on the red carpet.
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Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend join the festivities.
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Keke Palmer serves up a killer pose.
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Affion Crockett gets picture-perfect ready.
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Kerry Washington with Viola Davis pause on the red carpet.
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Host Anthony Anderson joins the party.
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Tracey Ellis Ross graced the affair.
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Cree Summer gets wacky on the carpet.
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Jurnee Smollett-Bell offers a smile on the carpet.
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Gugu Mbatha-Raw graces the affiar.
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Sheryl Lee Ralph works the camera.
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MAJOR serves up a dose of fashion on the carpet.
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Laverne Cox pauses on the red carpet.
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The Rev. Howard-John Wesley arrives with a group in tow.
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Skai Jackson works the camera.
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Shonda Rimes joins the party.
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Trinity Stokes gets playful on the red carpet.
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Richard Roundtree and his guest join the festivities.
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Nature Naughton works the camera.
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Lee Daniels and his guest serve up a dose of dapper on the carpet.
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Tichina Arnold pauses on the red carpet.
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Morri Chestnut and her guest were among the A-listers at the party.
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Gabby Sidibe joins the festivities.
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Wendy Raquel Robinson has a moment on the red carpet.
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Aun Janue Ellis makes a statement on the carpet.
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Jimmy Jean-Louis works the camera.
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A celebrity graces the affair.
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“Straight Outta Compton” took the top prize for motion pictures, while Sanaa Lathan was picked as outstanding movie actress for her performance in “The Perfect Guy.”
Perhaps the night’s biggest winner was Michael B. Jordan, who won for his starring role in the boxing film “Creed” and also won as Entertainer of the Year.
Anderson gave a shout-out to Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, joking that the pair -- who have also vowed to boycott the Oscars -- “better be here after all that ‘ish’ they started.”
Stacey Dash -- a star of the film “Clueless” who has angered many with her views as a Fox News commentator -- earned a special jab. Anderson called her “Ann Coulter dipped in butterscotch.”
Perhaps the strongest comments from the first half of the ceremony came from singer Legend, who called for “radical change” after winning the NAACP President’s Award, presented by the civil rights group’s leader, Cornell William Brooks.
“I accept this award with deep humility and gratitude,” Legend said. He criticized “a criminal justice system that over-polices us” and lamented a world in which “the color of our skin conjures the image of threat and violence.”
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The current adversity offers an opportunity, Legend said. He added: “Let’s not waste it.”
Scott Collins is a former staff reporter for the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times. He joined the staff in 2004 after previous stints at the Hollywood Reporter and Inside.com. Author of the book “Crazy Like a Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN,” he is a frequent pop-culture expert on national TV, radio shows and industry panels. He left The Times in 2016.
