2020 Image Award Nominees Complete List

The NAACP Image Awards has announced their 2020 nominees. 

The winners will be revealed when the 51st NAACP Image Awards air live on BET on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 8:00 pm PT. 

Here is the complete list of nominees:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Angela Basset
Billy Porter
Lizzo
Regina King
Tyler Perry

Motion Picture

OUTSTANDING MOTION PICTURE

Dolemite is My Name
Harriet
Just Mercy
Queen & Slim
Us

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE

Chadwick Boseman, 21 Bridges
Daniel Kaluuya, Queen & Slim
Eddie Murphy, Dolemite is My Name
Michael B. Jordan, Just Mercy
Winston Duke, Us

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE

Alfre Woodard, Clemency
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim
Lupita Nyong'o, Us
Naomie Harris, Black and Blue

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE

Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy
Leslie Odom, Jr., Harriet
Sterling K. Brown, Waves
Tituss Burgess, Dolemite Is My Name
Wesley Snipes, Dolemite Is My Name

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dolemite is My Name
Janelle Monáe, Harriet
Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Marsai Martin, Little
Octavia Spencer, Luce

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN MOTION PICTURE

Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim
Marsai Martin, Little
Rob Morgan, Just Mercy
Shahadi Wright Joseph, Us

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE

Dolemite is My Name
Harriet
Just Mercy
Queen & Slim
Us

OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT MOTION PICTURE

Clemency
Dolemite is My Name
Luce
Queen & Slim
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE (TELEVISION OR FILM)

Alfre Woodard, The Lion King
Donald Glover, The Lion King
James Earl Jones, The Lion King
Lupita Nyong'o, Serengeti
Sterling K. Brown, Frozen II

Television

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

Ballers
Black-ish
Dear White People
Grown-ish
The Neighborhood

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Cedric The Entertainer, The Neighborhood
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Dwayne Johnson, Ballers
Tracy Morgan, The Last O.G.

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Logan Browning, Dear White People
Jill Scott, First Wives Club
Tiffany Haddish, The Last O.G.
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Yara Shahidi, Grown-ish

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Deon Cole, Black-ish
Laurence Fishburne, Black-ish
Terry Crews, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Halle Bailey, Grown-ish
Loretta Devine, Family Reunion
Marsai Martin, Black-ish
Regina Hall, Black Monday
Tichina Arnold, The Neighborhood

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

Godfather of Harlem
Greenleaf
Queen Sugar
The Chi
Watchmen

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Billy Porter, Pose
Forest Whitaker, Godfather of Harlem
Kofi Siriboe, Queen Sugar
Omari Hardwick, Power
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Angela Bassett, 9-1-1
Regina King, Watchmen
Rutina Wesley, Queen Sugar
Simone Missick, All Rise
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Delroy Lindo, The Good Fight
Giancarlo Esposito, Godfather of Harlem
Harold Perrineau, Claws
Nigél Thatch, Godfather of Harlem
Wendell Pierce, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

CCH Pounder, NCIS: New Orleans
Lynn Whitfield, Greenleaf
Lyric Ross, This Is Us
Susan Kelechi Watson, This Is Us
Tina Lifford, Queen Sugar

OUTSTANDING GUEST PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES

Blair Underwood, Dear White People
David Alan Grier, Queen Sugar
Kelly Rowland, American Soul
MAJOR., STAR
Sanaa Lathan, The Affair

OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE, LIMITED-SERIES OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL

American Son
Being Mary Jane
Native Son
True Detective
When They See Us

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE, LIMITED-SERIES OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL

Caleel Harris, When They See Us
Ethan Henru Herisse, When They See Us
Idris Elba, Luther
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
Mahershala Ali, True Detective

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION MOVIE, LIMITED-SERIES OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL

Aunjanue Ellis, When They See Us
Gabrielle Union, Being Mary Jane
Kerry Washington, American Son
Niecy Nash, When They See Us
Octavia Spencer, Truth Be Told

OUTSTANDING NEWS/INFORMATION (SERIES OR SPECIAL)

PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
Surviving R. Kelly
The Breakfast Club
The Story of God with Morgan Freeman
Unsung

OUTSTANDING TALK SERIES

Red Table Talk
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
The Real
The Shop: Uninterrupted
The Tamron Hall Show

OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM/REALITY COMPETITION SERIES/GAME SHOW

Iyanla: Fix My Life
Lip Sync Battle
Rhythm + Flow
Sunday Best
The Voice

OUTSTANDING VARIETY (SERIES OR SPECIAL)

2019 Black Girls Rock!
Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
Saturday Night Live
Wanda Sykes: Not Normal

OUTSTANDING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM

Doc McStuffins
Family Reunion
Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History
Marvel’s Avengers: Black Panther’s Quest
Motown Magic

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A YOUTH (SERIES, SPECIAL, TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED-SERIES)

Caleel Harris, When They See Us
Lonnie Chavis, This Is Us
Lyric Ross, This Is Us
Marsai Martin, Black-ish
Miles Brown, Black-ish

OUTSTANDING HOST IN A TALK OR NEWS/INFORMATION (SERIES OR SPECIAL) – INDIVIDUAL OR ENSEMBLE

Angela Rye, Young Gifted and Broke: A BET Town Hall
Jada Pinkett Smith, Red Table Talk
Lester Holt, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
Trevor Noah, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Meghan McCain, Abby Huntsman, Ana Navarro, The View

OUTSTANDING HOST IN A REALITY/REALITY COMPETITION, GAME SHOW OR VARIETY (SERIES OR SPECIAL) – INDIVIDUAL OR ENSEMBLE

Iyanla Vanzant, Iyanla: Fix My Life
LL Cool J, Lip Sync Battle
Regina Hall, 2019 BET Awards
Steve Harvey, Celebrity Family Feud
Wayne Brady, Let's Make A Deal

Documentary

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY (FILM)

Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool
The Black Godfather
The Apollo
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY (TELEVISION – SERIES OR SPECIAL)

Free Meek
Hitsville: The Making of Motown
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
Martin: The Legacy of A King
ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke

Writing

OUTSTANDING WRITING IN A MOTION PICTURE (FILM)

Chinonye Chukwu, Clemency
Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham, Just Mercy
Doug Atchison, Brian Banks
Jordan Peele, Us
Kasi Lemmons & Gregory Allen Howard, Harriet

OUTSTANDING WRITING IN A COMEDY SERIES

Cord Jefferson, The Good Place ("Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy")
Gloria Calderon Kellett & Mike Royce, One Day at a Time ("Ghosts")
Jason Kim, Barry ("Past=Present x Future Over Yesterday")
Karen Gist & Peter Saji, Mixed-ish ("Let Your Hair Down")
Trevor Noah, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah ("Trevor Noah: Racism Detective")

OUTSTANDING WRITING IN A DRAMA SERIES

Ava DuVernay & Michael Starrbury, When They See Us ("Part Four")
Damon Lindelof & Cord Jefferson, Watchmen ("The Extraordinary Being")
Nichelle Tramble Spellman, Truth Be Told ("Monster")
Nkechi Okoro Carroll, All American ("Hussle & Motivate")
Pat Charles, Black Lightning ("The Book of Secrets: Chapter One: Prodigal Son")

OUTSTANDING WRITING IN A MOTION PICTURE (TELEVISION)

Cas Sigers-Beedles, Twas the Chaos Before Christmas
Melissa Bustamante, A Christmas Winter Song
Patrik-Ian Polk, Being Mary Jane
Suzan-Lori Parks, Native Son
Yvette Nicole Brown, Always a Bridesmaid

Directing

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING IN A MOTION PICTURE (FILM)

Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Jordan Peele, Us
Kasi Lemmons, Harriet
Mati Diop, Atlantics
Reginald Hudlin, The Black Godfather

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING IN A COMEDY SERIES

Anya Adams, GLOW ("Outward Bound")
Justin Tipping, Black Monday ("7042")
Ken Whittingham, Atypical ("Road Rage Paige")
Randall Winston, Grace and Frankie ("The Pharmacy")
Shaka King, Shrill ("Pool")

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING IN A DRAMA SERIES

Ava DuVernay, When They See Us ("Part Four")
Carl H. Seaton, Jr., Snowfall ("Hedgehogs")
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Power ("Forgot About Dre")
Debbie Allen, Grey's Anatomy ("Silent All These Years")
Jet Wilkinson, The Chi ("The Scorpion and the Frog")

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING IN A MOTION PICTURE (TELEVISION)

Codie Elaine Oliver, Black Love
Janice Cooke, I Am Sombody's Child: The Regina Louise Story
Kenny Leon, American Son
Rashid Johnson, Native Son
Russ Parr, The Bobby Debarge Story

Recording

OUTSTANDING ALBUM

Cuz I Love You, Lizzo
Homecoming: The Live Album, Beyoncé
I Used To Know H.E.R., H.E.R.
Sketchbook, Fantasia
Worthy, India.Arie

OUTSTANDING New Artist

Ari Lennox
Lil Nas X
Lucky Daye
Mahalia
Mykal Kilgore

OUTSTANDING MALE ARTIST

Bruno Mars
Khalid
Lil Nas X
MAJOR.
PJ Morton

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ARTIST

Beyoncé
Fantasia
H.E.R.
India.Arie
Lizzo

OUTSTANDING SONG – TRADITIONAL

"Enough" – Fantasia
"Jerome" – Lizzo
"SPIRIT" – Beyoncé
"Stand Up" – Cynthia Erivo
"Steady Love" – India.Arie

OUTSTANDING SONG – CONTEMPORARY

"Before I Let Go" – Beyoncé
"Hard Place" – H.E.R. 
"Juice" – Lizzo
"Talk" – Khalid
"Motivation" – Normani

OUTSTANDING DUO, GROUP OR COLLABORATION

"Brown Skin Girl" – Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, Beyoncé & WizKiD
"No Guidance" – Chris Brown feat. Drake
"Say So" – PJ Morton feat. JoJo
"Shea Butter Baby" – Ari Lennox feat. J. Cole
"Show Me Love" – Alicia Keys feat. Miguel

OUTSTANDING JAZZ ALBUM

"Carib" – David Sanchez
"Center of The Heart" – Najee
"Love & Liberation" – Jazzmeia Horn
"SoulMate" – Nathan Mitchell
"The Dream Is You: Vanessa Rubin Sings Tadd Dameron" – Vanessa Rubin

OUTSTANDING GOSPEL/CHRISTIAN SONG (TRADITIONAL OR CONTEMPORARY)

"I Made It Out" – John P. Kee feat. Zacardi Cortez
"Laughter" – Bebe Winans feat. Korean Soul
"Love Theory" – Kirk Franklin
"Not Yet" – Donnie McClurkin
"Victory" – The Clark Sisters

OUTSTANDING MUSIC VIDEO/VISUAL ALBUM

"Hard Place" – H.E.R.
"Juice" – Lizzo
"No Guidance" – Chris Brown feat. Drake
"Steady Love" – India.Arie
"Talk" – Khalid

OUTSTANDING SOUNDTRACK/COMPILATION ALBUM

Harriet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Queen & Slim The Soundtrack
The Lion King: The Gift
The Lion King Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Us (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Literature

OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – FICTION

New Daughters of Africa – Margaret Busby
Out of Darkness, Shining Light – Petina Gappah
Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson
The Revisioners – Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
The Water Dancer – Ta-Nehisi Coates

OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – NONFICTION

Breathe: A Letter to My Sons – Dr. Imani Perry
STONY THE ROAD: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow – Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 
The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations – Toni Morrison
The Yellow House – Sarah M. Broom
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays – Damon Young

OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – DEBUT AUTHOR

American Spy – Lauren Wilkinson
I Am Dance: Words and Images of the Black Dancer – Hal Banfield (Author), Javier Vasquez (Illustrator)
More Than Pretty: Doing The Soul Work To Uncover Your True Beauty – Erica Campbell
Such A Fun Age – Kiley Reid
The Farm – Joanne Ramos

OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System – Cyntoia Brown-Long
Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward – Valerie Jarrett
More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) – Elaine Welteroth
My Name Is Prince – Randee St. Nicholas
The Beautiful Ones – Prince (Author), Dan Piepenbring (Edited by)

OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – INSTRUCTIONAL

Inspire Your Home: Easy, Affordable Ideas to Make Every Room Glamorous – Farah Merhi
Letters to the Finishers (who struggle to finish) – Candace E. Wilkins
More Than Pretty: Doing the Soul Work that Uncovers Your True Beauty – Erica Campbell
Vegetables Unleashed – José Andres
Your Next Level Life: 7 Rules of Power, Confidence, And Opportunity For Black Women In America – Karen Arrington (Author), Joanna Price (Illustrator), Sheryl Taylor (Forward)

OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – POETRY

A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland – DaMaris B. Hill
Felon: Poems – Reginald Dwayne Betts
Honeyfish – Lauren K. Alleyne
Mistress – Chet'la Sebree
The Tradition – Jericho Brown

OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – CHILDREN

A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation – Barry Wittenstein (Author), Jerry Pinkney (Illustrator)
Hair Love – Matthew A. Cherry (Author), Vashti Harrison (Illustrator) 
Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment – Parker Curry (Author), Jessica Curry (Author), Brittany Jackson (Illustrator)
Ruby Finds a Worry – Tom Percival
Sulwe – Lupita Nyong'o (Author), Vashti Harrison (Illustrator)

OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – YOUTH/TEENS

Around Harvard Square – C.J. Farley
Her Own Two Feet: A Rwandan Girl’s Brave Fight to Walk – Meredith Davis (Author), Rebeka Uwitonze (Author) 
Hot Comb – Ebony Flowers (Author), Ebony Flowers (Illustrator) 
I'm Not Dying with You Tonight – Gilly Segal (Author), Kimberly Jones (Author)
The Forgotten Girl – India Hill Brown

Just Mercy opening wide on January 10, 2020

Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther,” “Creed,” “Creed II”) and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx (“Ray,” “Baby Driver,” “Django: Unchained”) and Brie Larson (“Room,” “The Glass Castle,” “Captain Marvel”) star in “Just Mercy,” an inspiring drama that brings one of the most important stories of our time to the big screen.

Award-winning filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (“The Glass Castle,” “Short Term 12”) directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote, based on the award-winning nonfiction bestseller by Bryan Stevenson.

A powerful and thought-provoking true story, “Just Mercy” follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.

The main cast also includes Rob Morgan (“Mudbound”) as Herbert Richardson, a fellow prisoner who also sits on death row awaiting his fate; Tim Blake Nelson (“Wormwood”) as Ralph Myers, whose pivotal testimony against Walter McMillian is called into question; Rafe Spall as Tommy Chapman, the DA who is fighting to uphold Walter’s conviction and sentence; O’Shea Jackson Jr. (“Straight Outta Compton”) as Anthony Ray Hinton, another wrongly convicted death row inmate whose cause is taken up by Bryan; and Karan Kendrick (“The Hate U Give”) as Walter’s wife, Minnie McMillian, who stands by her husband.

The film is produced by two-time Oscar nominee Gil Netter (“Life of Pi,” “The Blind Side”), Asher Goldstein (“Short Term 12”) and Michael B. Jordan. Bryan Stevenson, Mike Drake, Niija Kuykendall, Gabriel Hammond, Daniel Hammond, Scott Budnick, Jeff Skoll and Charles D. King served as executive producers.

Cretton co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Lanham (“The Glass Castle”), based on Stevenson’s book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Published in 2014 by Spiegel & Grau, the book has spent more than 150 weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers List, and counting. It was also named one of the year’s best books by a number of top publications, including TIME Magazine. For the book, Stevenson also won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, an NAACP Image Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Nonfiction. Cretton’s behind-the-scenes creative team included director of photography Brett Pawlak, production designer Sharon Seymour, editor Nat Sanders and composer Joel P. West, all of whom previously collaborated with the director on “The Glass Castle.” They are joined by costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuck (“Detroit,” “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”).

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in Association with Endeavor Content/One Community/Participant Media/Macro, a Gil Netter Production, an Outlier Society Production, “Just Mercy.” The film is slated for limited release on December 25, 2019 and will go wide on January 10, 2020. “Just Mercy” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures and has been rated PG-13 for thematic content, including some racial epithets.

JUST MERCY TRAILER

Stacey Abrams voting rights group raises $14.6 million in six months

The political action committee for Fair Fight, the voting rights group that Democrat Stacey Abrams started after losing the governor’s race in 2018 raised $14.6 million in the last six months of 2019 from across the country.

The haul left the group, which advocates for fair elections, with $11 million on hand at the end of the year.

Overall, the group has raised nearly $19 million since being formed in the wake of Abrams’ narrow loss to Gov. Brian Kemp.

Most recently, presidential candidate and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $5 million to the group just before Christmas, while Montana philanthropist Diana Blank, wife of Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank, gave $500,000, as did - combined - two major national unions.

About three-fourths of the money from those who contributed $100 or more came from outside of Georgia. With Bloomberg’s contributions, New York ranked as the largest donor by state, with $6.1 million. Californians gave about $2 million in the final six months of 2019.

Fair Fight received money from tens of thousands of donors.

[SOURCE: AJC.com]

Charles Barkley donates $1 million to HBCU, Miles College

NBA Hall of Famer and Auburn alum Charles Barkley making a huge donation to Miles College.

Miles head football coach and Athletic Director Reginald Ruffin says Sir Charles donated $1 million to the college in Fairfield.

It’s the single largest gift by a donor of $1 Million in Miles College’s 122 years.

Barkley was the donor of this large historic gift made under the helm of President Bobbie Knight, Interim President of Miles College and first woman in history to lead the historic institution.

“It’s great that Mr. Barkley thinks enough of Miles College to donate a million dollars. This gift lays the foundation to launch our $100 million dollar comprehensive campaign,” said President Bobbie Knight, Interim President of Miles College.

“I’ve gotten to know Bobbie Knight over the last year and it was something I really wanted to do,” said Barkley. “To have a female president is a big deal. I want to help Bobbie be as successful as she can be.”

Black News Channel to launch during Black History Month

BLACK NEWS CHANNEL TO LAUNCH DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Tallahassee, Florida—December 31, 2019--Black News Channel (BNC) announced today that it has updated the launch of the nation’s only African American news network to Black History Month on February 10, 2020. Network executives previously announced plans to launch to an audience significantly larger than its original projections. The Black History Month launch provides the time necessary to build out the distribution platforms, apps, and other infrastructure necessary to accommodate this historic event.

“Black History Month is an appropriate time to launch the Black News Channel”, Bob Brillante, co-founder and CEO for BNC shared. “We are committed to make sure that when our viewers tune in they are witness to a quality viewing experience.”

J.C. Watts, chairman and co-founder for BNC added, “Our technicians, crew and launch partners are working overtime to make sure that the additional pieces are in place to provide our African American audience with the programming that tells more of our story in a way that is not provided by current news outlets. We will make history together as we launch February 10, 2020 to more than 70 million homes and devices.”

BNC plans to release more information in January about how and where customers can view the network’s programming.

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About BNC

Black News Channel is an independent network that is minority owned and operated, and it will be the nation’s only provider of 24/7 cable news programming dedicated to covering the unique perspective of African American communities. BNC is the endeavor of the network’s visionaries and co-founders, Chairman J.C. Watts, Jr. and CEO Bob Brillante. BNC will provide access to information and educational programming to meet the specific needs of this growing and dynamic community that is a major consumer of subscription television services. BNC will provide an authentic, new voice that represents African Americans in mainstream media and fosters political, economic, and social discourse; the network will be one voice representing the many voices of African Americans. BNC’s programming will illuminate truth about the unique challenges facing urban communities and help close the “image gap” that exists today between the negative black stereotypes perpetuated by mainstream media news and our enterprising African American communities.