Meet award-winning investigative reporter and 2022 NAACP Image Awards “Social Justice Impact Award” winner Nikole Hannah-Jones. Her work covering civil rights and racial injustice for The New York Times is just the tip of the iceberg of contributions. Before joining the renowned publication, Hannah-Jones spent three years writing extensively on issues pertaining to race, class, school resegregation, and equity.

In 2020, she won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her work on the landmark 1619 Project, which “aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative.” The title is derived from when Africans first arrived in Virginia via slave ships.

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Hannah-Jones’s bravery to spread the harsh truth of America’s past famously threatened her tenure at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which hosted a mostly Republican UNC Board of Governors who’ve been critical of the scholar in the past.  Ultimately, the Iowa native declined the offer and instead joined the faculty at Howard University, the inaugural Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at the historically black university.

In 2021, Hannah-Jones was named as Times’  “The 100 Most Influential People of 2021,” and this year became the “Social Justice Impact Award” winner—presented by 44th annual President’s Award honoree Kerry Washington. Thank you, Nikole Hannah-Jones, for your time, fight, and courage. Congratulations.