African American culture is marked by rich, communal traditions designed to celebrate, honor, and strengthen our bonds through family reunions, festivals and everyday gestures of solidarity, emphasizing joy, heritage and collective strength. The 57th NAACP Image Awards, held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles on February 28, was all of this and thus a master class in African American resilience.
While the ceremony honors African American excellence in entertainment, presenters and attendees specifically paid attention to Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo. Comedian Deon Cole, a returning host of the awards ceremony, began his opening monologue in prayer and finished his bit with: “Lord, if there are any white men out here in the audience with Tourette’s, I advise you to tell them they better read the room tonight.”
African Americans have long used humor to navigate and cope with the trauma of racism. They have also used their funny bone to reclaim the narrative and their power, flipping the script on stereotypes while deconstructing white-body supremacy. Comedy also allows for an open discussion of racial issues and acts as a form of nonviolent resistance against unfair and unjust conditions.
Since the BBC decided against editing out the N-word ticked at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo by John Davidson, a Tourette syndrome activist, during the BAFTA awards and while they were presenting the Best Visual Effects award on stage, the men have received widespread support. Jordan and Lindo, who maintained their composure, have also been praised for their professionalism and class after being subjected to what the BAFTA described as a “distressing event” in its apology.
Before presenting the first award of the night, Regina Hall, who starred in One Battle After Another, asked the audience to “take a moment for the two kings who are in the audience,” speaking of Jordan and Lindo, who received an ovation. “[I] just send you so much love for your class,” she said.
Hall’s affirmation was followed by Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson’s own. “We see you. We are behind you. We support you and we love you,” Brunson said.
African Americans utilize mutual affirmation and shared cultural values to build resilience and ensure survival against systemic barriers, white supremacist terrorism, and social injustice. This tradition of solidarity focuses on collective care, mental well-being and resistance to create spaces for empowerment. Pasadena Civic Auditorium became just that.
When Ryan Coogler, the writer, producer and director of Sinners, and Delroy Lindo walked onto the stage, they received a standing ovation and cheers. Lindo took an opportunity to thank supporters, saying, “Before we start, I’d just like to officially say, we appreciate—I appreciate— we appreciate all the support and the love that we have been shown in the aftermath of what happened last weekend. It means a lot to us.”
He continued, “It is an honor to be here amongst our people this evening. Among so many people who have shown us such incredible support. And it’s a classic case of something that could be very negative becoming very positive.”
African Americans consistently transform systemic oppression, racial trauma and negative stereotypes into strength and cultural power through creativity and community solidarity. This includes reclaiming derogatory language, using the arts and music for social change and fostering “Black Joy” as an act of resistance.
Coogler also affirmed the importance of being in community, saying, “There’s something powerful about standing in this room—a room where we don’t have to explain ourselves or our stories aren’t footnotes. They’re the main text.”
The tag-team teaching continued with Lindo adding, “A room where being fully seen is not rare; it is expected.”
“And that matters because so much of what we do on screen and behind the scenes is about fighting to be understood,” Coogler said with Lindo adding, “To be layered. Complex. To be human.”
Class dismissed.
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Director of The Raceless Gospel Initiative, an associate editor, host of the Good Faith Media podcast, “The Raceless Gospel” and author of Take Me to the Water: The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church.