Anthony Anderson hosted the show for the seventh straight year and won an award himself for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy series for his work on Black-ish. “Give yourself a round of applause,” he said during his opening monologue. “This is a night of celebration, a show to honor the very best in Black excellence.”

Lizzo, then a relative unknown, won the category of Entertainer of the Year, giving a moving speech that celebrated Black people. “We are such a beautiful people, this is just a reminder of all the beautiful things that we can do," she said, accepting the last and biggest award of the evening as she danced and leapt off the stage.

Jill Scott serenaded the crowd with a medley of songs at the 51st NAACP Image Awards. Scott sported a sleek braided look and a vintage-inspired jumpsuit got the crowd moving. The four-time NAACP award winner celebrated the 20th anniversary of her definitive debut album, Who Is Jill Scott? kicking things off with a soaring rendition of “Do You Remember” before transitioning into crowd-pleaser “The Way.”

Just Mercy won the Outstanding Motion Picture Award, while stars Michael B. Jordan won for Outstanding Actor for his role as a crusading defense attorney, and Jamie Foxx won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a wrongly convicted man. Foxx gave a motivational speech and also praised Jordan, noting that he loves to receive awards from Blacks folks because our talent runs deep. “We are so talented,” he said, thanking supporters. “I also want to thank this young brother who I cannot thank enough. His name is Michael B. Jordan,” he said to a cheering audience.

Tracee Ellis Ross gave a shout out to powerful and magical Black women in her acceptance speech for her Outstanding Actress In A Comedy Series for her role as Rainbow Johnson on Black-ish. “Our experiences and stories are way too often told through interpreters, and history, systems and laws have told us that we need a man's voice or power to name our experience, to validate our experiences, that we need a son to carry on a legacy, to etch our impact in time,” she said. “But we get to define ourselves, not through how others imagine us, but through how we see ourselves, even if our truth makes you uncomfortable.”

Rihanna won the president’s award. She gave a moving acceptance speech about the importance of world issues becoming everyone’s issues. She also reminded the audience that friends in other races should advocate for Black issues.“We can only fix this world together. We can’t let the desensitivity seep in,” she said. “How many of us in this room have colleagues and partners and friends from other races, sexes, religions? They want to break bread with you, right? They like you? Well then this is their problem, too. So when you’re marching, protesting and posting about the Michael Brown Jr.s and the Atatiana Jeffersons of the world, tell your friends to pull up” for Black folks.

Tiffany Haddish presented Marsai Martin with the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her work in the film, Little, beating out Jennifer Lopez, Janelle Monáe and Octavia Spencer. Marsai won three more awards for her roles in Little and Black-ish during the non-televised first night of the Image Awards. She thanked her family and her team, and “all the beautiful Black girls, who inspire her everyday.”

H.E.R. sprinkled Black Girl magic all over the stage during a performance of “Slow Down” with Skip Marley, inspiring the audience to lip sync and dance and sway to the beat. They performed a medley that ended with an homage to Skip’s late grandfather, the legendary Bob Marley, putting their own spin on “Turn Your Lights Down Low.”

Blue Ivy, the daughter of Beyoncé and Jay Z, won her first official honor at the 51st NAACP Image Awards in the category of Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration for "Brown Skin Girl," her collaboration with Beyoncé, SAINt JHN and Wizkid from the 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift. Her grandmother, Tina Lawson, shared her pride on Instagram following the news, posting, “Grandma is soo proud of you," she wrote alongside a photo of Blue Ivy. "You are giving all the beautiful little brown girls a voice.”

Husband and wife dynamic duo Sterling K. Brown and Ryan Michelle Bathe, who met in 1998 at Stanford University, heated up the stage as they presented an award together for the first time. “It’s an extraordinarily important time for us to remember where we’ve been and where we're going,” Bathe told ExtraTV in a red carpet interview about the NAACP Awards. “We don't always get to do that with other awards shows. But this is colored people, and we all get together. I don't think people realize it’s poetry, it’s drama, it’s everything. And we all get to say, ‘job well done.’ And that’s very important.”

Watch the 52nd Annual NAACP awards on BET on Saturday, March 27, 2021 at 8/7C