LOS ANGELES, CA — Late actor Chadwick Boseman was recognized, celebrated and honored with the Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Award at the 52nd Annual NAACP Awards on Saturday night. Boseman won the award for his terrific performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom currently showing on Netflix.
Boseman’s wife Taylor Simone Ledward accepted the award on his behalf during the Saturday night ceremony.
“As always, all honor and glory to the most high God. He would thank his mom and dad, and he would give honor to the ancestors,” Ledward said. “As we know honor him. Thank you, NAACP Image Awards, for always giving him his flowers. He was an uncommon artist and an even more uncommon person, but the manner that we have lost him is not uncommon at all, not in our community.“
During Leward’s speech, she encouraged everyone to get health screenings on a consistent basis, due to the her husband’s battle with cancer before his death.
“Black people in this country are 20% more likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and 40% more likely to die from it. The age for routine screenings has recently been lowered to 45, if you are 45 years of age or older, please get screened,” she said. “Don’t put it off any longer, please get screened. This disease is beatable if you catch it in the early stages and don’t have any time to waste even if you have no family history. And even if you think that nothing is wrong, if you are younger than 45, please be proactive about your health.“
Boseman was nominated for two awards: Best Actor for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Best Supporting Actor forDa 5 Bloods. He won the award for Supporting Actor on Friday night.
Boseman has played some outstanding roles in film’s such as “Get On Up” the James Brown story, Marvel’s “Black Panther“, “42” the story of Jackie Robinson, “Marshall“, and “21 Bridges” to name a few. Approximately eight months after his death, his legacy continues to reign and be honored. He was recently won Best Actor awards at 2021 Critics Choice Awards and 2021 Golden Globes.
Beyond an actor, Boseman uplifted many along his journey and showcased a level of strength and dedication to his craft and humanity, that many of us may never reach in our lifetime.
