Celebrated Kenyan actress Lupita Nyongo won two awards during the 51st annual NAACP Image Awards held on Saturday, February 22 in Los Angeles, California.
Lupita was the recipient of the Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Us, a highly acclaimed horror movie written and directed by Jordan Peele.
She had been nominated alongside Naomie Harris for Black and Blue, Jodie Turner-Smith of Queen and Slim, Cynthia Erivo of Harriet and Alfre Woodward of Clemency.
Lupita also won an Outstanding Literary Work for Children for her book Sulwe which she wrote in 2019.
She won the award alongside Vashti Harrison who was the illustrator in the text and Simon & Schuster of the Books For Young Readers (BFYR).
Lupita was nominated for the award alongside other highly acclaimed children's books including A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr by Barry Weinstein and Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry.
Taking to her Instagram account, Lupita announced her victory and pleasure at winning the awards on a star-studded night in Hollywood.
"I could not be happier to have received this honor for my first book!!! Thank you @NAACPImageAwards!! #Sulwe #BrightnessIsJustWhoYouAre," she wrote.
Lupita had also been nominated for the Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for her role in the documentary Serengeti by Discovery Channel but lost out to James Earl Jones for his role in The Lion King by Walt Disney Studios.
On the same night, other top stars including Oprah Winfrey were awarded for their contribution to Literature and Drama.
Singer and philanthropist Robyn Rihanna Fenty, popularly known as Rihanna, stole the night when she received the President's Award for distinguished public service.
The NAACP Image Award is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, music, and literature.
Similar to other awards, like the Oscars and the Grammys, the over 40 categories of the Image Awards are voted on by the award organization's members (in this case, NAACP members).
Honorary awards (similar to the Academy Honorary Award) have also been included, such as the President's Award, the Chairman's Award, the Entertainer of the Year, and the Hall of Fame Award.
