Former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris received a hero’s reception, including multiple standing ovations and enthusiastic applause, at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards, where she was on hand to receive the Chairman’s Award.
Seated in the audience with husband Doug Emhoff, Harris was introduced by NAACP board of directors chair Leon W. Russell.
“Against impossible odds, she gave America a campaign that was a force of nature,” Russell said of Harris’ 2024 presidential bid, which saw her ascend to the top of the Democratic ticket in late July after President Joe Biden ended his re-election effort. “No one else could’ve accomplished what she did, and no one else is more deserving of our gratitude.”
Harris, of course, ultimately lost the general election to the Republican candidate, President Donald Trump. However, she received more than 75 million votes after a campaign that lasted roughly 100 days.
While Harris’ political future remains unknown, she’s been discussed as a potential candidate for California governor in 2026. There’s also the possibility she could run for president again in 2028. Since leaving office last month, she returned to her home state of California where she’s been seen helping the Los Angeles communities recover from the devastating wildfires. She was among the star-studded attendees of the FireAid benefit in L.A. last month. The 2025 NAACP Image Awards also marks her first major TV event since she left office.
Russell called Harris a “leader on the causes that truly matter, a strong voice for the powerless and a fighter for all of us,” who “will continue to be an inspiration for generations to come.”
After a highlight reel of her career, in which the show announcer described her as the “first woman from our community” to become a major political party presidential nominee, said that she “won” her Sept. 10 debate against Trump and thanked her for giving people “the promise of a new dawn and better tomorrow,” Harris took the stage to accept her award.
After her second standing ovation (the first came when Russell named her as the recipient of this year’s honor), Harris, sporting a black pantsuit, identified herself as a “proud lifetime member of the NAACP.”
After that, she spoke about the organization’s origins, bringing it forward to the present day.
“This organization came into being when our country struggled with greed, bitterness and hatred,” she said in part. “Those who forged the NAACP, those who carried its legacy forward had no illusions about what they were up against, how stony the road would be.”
“But some look at this moment and rightly feel the weight of history,” she said. “Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy, and ask, ‘What do we do now?’ But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before, and we will do it again.”
She continued, “We organize, mobilize, educate and advocate. Our power has never come from having an easy path. Our strength flows from our faith — faith in God, faith in each other, and our refusal to surrender to cynicism and destruction. Not because it is easy but because it is necessary. Not because victory is guaranteed, but because the fight is worth it.”
She added, “While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will not be written simply by whoever occupies the Oval Office or by the wealthiest among us. The American story will be written by you, by we the people.”
Harris closed her remarks with remarks befitting a longtime political leader, saying, “God bless you and may God bless America.”
The Chairman’s Award recognizes people who have excelled in public service and leveraged their platforms to drive meaningful change.
It has previously been given to such figures as Samuel L. Jackson, Tyler Perry, Danny Glover, Ruby Dee, Amanda Gorman, Rev. James Lawson, then-Senator Barack Obama, former Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and members of Congress such as Bennie G. Thompson, Maxine Waters and the late John Lewis.
The 56th NAACP Image Awards, hosted by Deon Cole, is taking place Saturday night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, with the ceremony airing on BET and CBS at 8 p.m.
