Usher Raymond was honored with the President’s Award at the 2024 NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, March 16, and during his acceptance speech, he honored his mother too, in an emotional mention.
The NAACP’s President Award has been annually awarded to esteemed Black figures since the show’s 1987 iteration. Past President Award honorees included Ella Fitzgerald, Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, LeBron James, Spike Lee, Rihanna, and more.
Usher honors his mother in President’s Award acceptance speech
Usher was recognized for his unparalleled talent and remarkable contributions to entertainment, as Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, stated ahead of the ceremony.
“Beyond his vocal talent and stage presence, Usher has empowered thousands of under-resourced youth to pursue their dreams through college readiness programs, financial literacy, and career planning. His dedication to creating positive change in the world has touched countless lives, redefining the boundaries of creativity and compassion,” Johnson’s statement read.
Johnson awarded Usher the award, and in his acceptance speech, he reminisced about his journey in the game, highlighting inspirations like New Edition, and addressing his family, including his mother and newly wedded wife.
“I’m very honored to receive this amazing award; from the depths of my soul, my passion work is what has mattered to me since my mother has made me understand what the opportunity to be able to speak to the entire world is,” he began.
Usher added, “I wanted to make it known that far too often, women in our industry [don’t] get the recognition that they truly deserve. When we first started, it was even harder for a mother to believe in the dreams that I had because I was unwavering, being raised without a father. In our home being raised [by] a single parent…it was a lot. But [mom], if anybody deserves it more than anybody, it’s her.”
“The tenacity that it took to look within a male-dominated industry and believe in your son unwaveringly, no matter how hard those board rooms may have been, she didn’t have the experience…but because of that, I have this moment,” he continued, adding, “I want you to know how much I really love, honor, recognize, and appreciate you. It’s an incredible honor to be recognized by the NAACP in and this beautiful community. We all take our crafts very serious…I am thankful for the support that my mother gave me. I’m overwhelmed by the appreciation from my entire family. I thank my beautiful mother and my beautiful wife, Jennifer, for holding me down. I dedicate this award to family.”
A brief about the 55th NAACP Image Awards
The 55th NAACP Image Awards, presented by the NAACP, honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music, and literature during the 2023 calendar year.
Submissions were received online from July 31 to November 3, 2023, and public online voting on the shortlisted nominations for performance categories was set to run from January 25 to February 24, 2024, on the Image Awards website.
The nominations were announced on January 25, 2024, with the film The Color Purple and actor Colman Domingo leading the motion picture categories with 16 and 3 nominations, respectively, and Ayo Edebiri leading the nominations for television and streaming categories with two for Abbott Elementary and The Bear.
Eight new categories were created this year;
- Outstanding Youth Performance in a Motion Picture
- Outstanding Cinematography in a Motion Picture
- Outstanding Short Form Documentary Motion Picture
- Outstanding Original Score for TV/Film
- Outstanding Scripted Series Podcast
- Outstanding Limited Series/Short Form Podcast
- Outstanding Graphic Novel
- Outstanding Stunt Ensemble
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