Speakers Wil Haygood and Tracee Ellis Ross Receive NAACP Image Award Nominations
22 Dec 2015
Speakers Wil Haygood and Tracee Ellis Ross were recently nominated for NAACP Image Awards. The NAACP’s 47th annual Image Awards celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in TV, music, literature, and film—honoring individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors. Wil Haygood was nominated for Outstanding Literary Work (non-fiction) for his critically acclaimed book SHOWDOWN and Tracee Ellis Ross was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for ABC’s Black-ish.
+Read the full list of nominees on Deadline.com
Wil Haygood is best known as the author of New York Times bestseller The Butler: A Witness to History, which sparked a film adaptation of the book. He worked for 30 years as a reporter, during which he witnessed Nelson Mandela’s release from imprisonment, was taken hostage by Somalian rebels, covered New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina, and traveled with Barack Obama. He has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and he shares his inspirational experiences and book topics in keynote presentations, including one about the four great modern legal cases that changed American law—highlighting the legal work of Thurgood Marshall, which he wrote about in SHOWDOWN.
Tracee Ellis Ross won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in Black-ish in 2015. She is best known for her starring role in Girlfriends, which ran for eight seasons and earned her eight NAACP Image Award nominations—including two wins. Besides her career as an actress and performance artist, Ross is a motivational speaker who shares insight from her professional and personal life in speeches discussing her Jewish heritage and defining her own rules for success. Her cross-cultural and joyful point of view inspires all.
APB is proud to represent many of today's leading African American speakers, from best-selling authors and business leaders to social critics and award-winning journalists.