The Ebony Canal Scores NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Short Form Documentary

On January 13, 2026, nominations were announced for the 57th Annual NAACP Image Awards, recognizing excellence across film, television, music, literature, and cultural storytelling. Among this year’s honorees is The Ebony Canal, which earned a nomination for Outstanding Short Form Documentary (Film), a significant milestone for this work and for the broader movement to elevate Black maternal health outcomes globally.

The nomination arrives at a time when the urgency of this work remains undeniable. Black and Brown women in the United States are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to the CDC and Black infants are over two times more likely to die in their first year of life. That reality has been felt deeply within the maternal health advocacy community following the recent passing of Dr. Janelle Greene Smith, a respected midwife and tireless advocate whose work centered dignity, safety, and access for Black mothers and birthing people. Her legacy continues to shape the conversations and commitments reflected in this film.

Directed by Emmy award-winning Emmai Alaquiva and narrated by EGOT-winning actress Viola Davis, The Ebony Canal examines the systemic factors contributing to Black maternal mortality while centering the lived experiences of four women, their families and healthcare advocates. Since its release, the documentary has been screened in over 14 film festivals globally, produced over 20 private screenings and walked away with Best Short Documentary (Social Impact) at the 2025 Essence Film Festival and received the 2025 Cultural Visionary Award from Urbanworld Film Festival.

The 2026 NAACP Image Awards will reveal winners in select categories during a two-hour televised special airing live on Saturday, February 28, with additional non-televised category announcements taking place throughout the week of February 23–26.

This nomination places The Ebony Canal among a distinguished group of storytellers whose work continues to influence culture, policy, and public awareness affirming the role of documentary film as a powerful tool in shaping national dialogue around health equity and justice.

General Mills and UNCF Celebrate 36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast

General Mills (NYSE: GIS) presents the 36th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast in support of UNCF Twin Cities. The event will be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Doors open at 6:45 a.m., with breakfast and pre-event programming beginning at 7:30 a.m. Tickets are available at MLKBreakfast.com.

The Minneapolis-based event is one of the nation’s largest annual breakfast celebrations honoring Dr. King. The breakfast supports UNCF’s mission of investing in young men and women in the Twin Cities to help them get to and through college.

This year’s theme “Make a Career of Humanity,” was inspired by Dr. King’s message, “Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”

This year’s event will feature two keynote presentations, Soledad O’Brien and Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III.

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning documentarian, author and founder of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories. Soledad’s most recent projects include the award-winning HBO Original documentary, The Devil is Busy, and the Netflix documentary The Perfect Neighbor, which premiered at Sundance.

Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III is a consultant, lecturer and speaker on the topics of leadership, STEM education, workforce development and civic engagement. Hrabowski currently serves as President Emeritus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), championing minority achievement in graduate studies.

“On this day of remembrance and reflection, we gather to celebrate the enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO, UNCF. “His commitment to justice and equality inspires us to continue the work of uplifting our communities through the power of education. With the invaluable support of General Mills, a steadfast partner of UNCF, we are reminded that together we can create pathways to success for our youth and honor Dr. King’s dream.”

NAACP Urges Senate to Act After House Passes Bill to Restore ACA Premium Tax Credits

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) urging the Senate to swiftly pass legislation already approved by the House that would restore enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, which expired on December 31, 2025.
 

Without immediate congressional action, millions of Americans are facing sharply higher health insurance premiums in 2026 — premiums that have already more than doubled for many Marketplace enrollees — putting coverage out of reach for working families and risking widespread loss of insurance. Independent analyses project that as many as 8,800 preventable deaths could occur annually due to the resulting health and economic devastation.
  

Black communities and other communities already experiencing disproportionate health and economic inequities will bear an outsized share of this harm. 
 

"Failure to act is itself a decision — one that carries grave consequences for access to care, health equity, and financial stability for millions of Americans," wrote Johnson. "The Senate has an opportunity to revisit this issue with clarity and to repair the harm caused by inaction. We respectfully urge you to act without delay in bringing the House-passed legislation to the Senate floor for consideration and a vote."
 

The House of Representatives passed a three-year extension of the ACA premium tax credits on Thursday, Dec. 8. The Senate has several procedural options available, but further delay will only compound the harm families are already experiencing.
 

Key impacts of inaction include: 

• Coverage Loss: Millions of people projected to lose health insurance. 170,000+ Black adults would lose health care coverage across 10 major metro areas, according to the Economic Policy Institute.  

• Economic Harm: Nearly 340,000 jobs nationwide at risk, half in health care. Black families would also pay an additional $740 million in premiums each year. 

• Racial Inequity: Black Americans and other marginalized communities, already facing higher uninsured rates and chronic health disparities, will be disproportionately harmed. 

• Health Outcomes: Rising premiums create financial barriers to care, worsening chronic illnesses and long-standing health disparities. 

"This vote will be lifesaving," Johnson emphasized. "It will protect American families and the integrity of the health care system. Alternatively, the health and financial cliffs we face as a nation will remain untenable." 

The NAACP continues to advocate for policies that advance health equity, eliminate disparities, and ensure access to affordable, high-quality health care for all. 
 

Read the full letter to Senate Majority Leader Thune here. 

HBCU Executive Leadership Institute Welcomes 2026 Community of Fellows

The HBCU Executive Leadership Institute (HBCU ELI) at Clark Atlanta University today announced its 2026 Community of Fellows, a selective cohort of leaders preparing to serve as the next generation of presidents and senior executives across Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), MSIs, and PBIs. Now in its sixth year, more than 40 executive leaders from higher education, business, technology, and non-profit organizations will participate.

To view a full list of the 2026 HBCU ELI Community of Fellows, click HERE.

Fellows are chosen through a highly competitive, multi-step review designed to identify leaders with demonstrated institutional impact, executive readiness, and a clear commitment to the mission of HBCUs. HBCU ELI's competency-based model is designed to select Fellows annually through a rigorous process, with eligibility requirements that include a minimum of 10 years of experience in higher education or a related field, as well as at least three years in dean-level or equivalent leadership roles.

"In this moment, our institutions need leaders who can steward heritage and accelerate innovation at the same time," said Clark Atlanta University President George T. French, Jr., Ph.D. "The 2026 Community of Fellows is prepared to meet the charge of building the next generation of HBCU leaders—and strengthening communities that rely on HBCUs as engines of opportunity for all."

Executive leadership programs such as HBCU ELI are increasingly essential as new and aspiring presidents face a widening set of challenges—from financial and operational pressures to campus governance, faculty issues, free speech, and student mental health.

A competency-driven curriculum built for real-world HBCU executive leadership

The 2026 cohort will participate in a structured learning experience centered on HBCU ELI's 13 core competencies—six core leadership competencies and seven HBCU-specific executive competencies. These include:

Core leadership competencies:

• Cultivating Relationships & Networks
• Communicating with Influence
• Emotional Intelligence Skills
• Models for Excellence
• Making Sound Decisions
• Strategic Planning

HBCU-specific executive competencies:

• Navigating Board Governance
• Building High-Performing Teams and Pipeline
• Funding the Future
• Leads Finance and Operations Stability
• Delivering Academic Excellence
• Leading Through Uncertainty and Crisis
• Educating for Racial and Social Justice

"Our Fellows are immersed in a competency-driven experience that prioritizes executive judgment, strategic clarity, and mission-aligned leadership," said Dr. Phyllis Worthy-Dawkins, Executive Director of HBCU ELI and 18th President of Bennett College. "This cohort brings the talent and the discipline to lead through complexity—while keeping students, outcomes, and institutional sustainability at the center."

"We welcome the sixth cohort of executive leaders to the Community of Fellows Program with pride. The new cohort of Fellows includes several HBCU alumni and employees, which is also exciting," said Dr. Cheryl Davenport Dozier, Program Coordinator for the HBCU Community of Fellows and President Emeritus of Savannah State University. "This will be another year of intentionality and purpose as we continue to prepare future higher education executive leaders."

Program structure and 2026 launch milestones

The 2026 Community of Fellows launched with a virtual orientation on January 3,  2026, which will be followed by additional bi-monthly competency-based seminars through April 2026.  The in-person residency will be hosted on the campus of Clark Atlanta University from June 10 – 12, 2026, and will continue with applied leadership work. The culminating Virtual Celebration of Leadership will take place on November 20, 2026.

EBONY Media Debuts EBONY Voices with Short Film Standing in the Ashes, Marking One Year Since Altadena Fires

EBONY Media released Standing in the Ashes: One Year After the Altadena Fires, the first short film in its new multimedia series, EBONY Voices, which spotlights human-interest stories that connect and uplift communities.

Directed by Lyric Perez and produced by EBONY Media Owner and CEO Eden Bridgeman Sklenar and EVP of Editorial Content Cori Murray, Standing in the Ashes marks the one-year anniversary of the Eaton wildfire that devastated parts of Los Angeles County in January 2024. The film centers three long-time Altadena families as they navigate loss, rebuilding, and the decision to remain in a historically Black community disproportionately impacted by the disaster.

"Standing in the Ashes reflects what EBONY Voices was created to do—center humanity, honor legacy, and ensure our communities are not reduced to statistics in moments of crisis," said Eden Bridgeman Sklenar, Owner and CEO of EBONY Media. "These families remind us that rebuilding is not just about homes, but about protecting history, culture, and the right to remain rooted where generations before them built a future."

Standing in the Ashes features Staci and Thomas Andrews; Ronda Carson and her mother, Barbara Carson; and Antoinette "Toni" Bailey-Raines, a community leader recognized as a 2025 EBONY Power 100 Community Crusader for her work co-hosting Altadena Talks, a grassroots radio show and podcast launched in response to the fires.

The Eaton wildfire claimed 19 lives and destroyed or damaged 9,418 homes and buildings. At least 60 percent of the homes affected were Black households. A data study from UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies found that 61 percent of Black households in Altadena were located within the fire perimeter, compared with 50 percent of non-Black households. Nearly half of Black households experienced destruction or major damage, and a majority of Black homeowners in the area are over age 65, increasing vulnerability during recovery.

Standing in the Ashes: One Year After the Altadena Fires is now available as part of EBONY Voices and also available for viewing on YouTube: https://www.ebony.com/ebony-voices-remembering-altadena/