Similiar to the Academy Awards show a few years ago, when Will Smith grabbed all the headlines for ‘slapping the *** out of a Black comedian who had just made an insulting joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will’s wife, this year’s National Association of Black Journalists 2026 Salute to Excellence Awards Gala on August 15th was rocked by the NABJ presenting its major “Thumbs Down” award to sports and political analyst Stephen A. Smith. He was decidedly not amused in his stunned reaction to that award, and has not yet stopped talking about it as a major insult to himself.
He has, in fact, regularly roared against the award across several media forums, and starts with the phrase, “I was raised by 6 strong Black women. There is no way I can be accused of disrespecting Black women.”
What made it not so bad, maybe, is that the NABJ presented that same “Thumbs-down” award not just to Stephen A., but also to four other entertainment and political people in the media, including:
—Brendan Carr, the current chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for limiting press freedom and dismantling DEI initiatives;
— The CBS Television Network, for eliminating its entire race and culture unit in a single move that disproportionately wiped out journalists of color at the network; – DuJuan McCoy, the President & CEO of WISH-TV, for the massive allegations against him for the continuing mistreatment of Black journalists under his watch;
— The Washington Post newspaper (and Jeff Bezos), for laying off virtually all of its Black journalists and eliminating all the race and culture beats previously carried by the paper (in homage to Donald Trump).
Stephen A., however, has not seen it as a plus to be included with this gang of folk (in fact, he has called it an insult), and he has promised a full-scale media war of negativity against the NABJ. NABJ’s “Thumbs-down Award,” in particular, was a portion of the event that “called attention to an individual or to an organization for being responsible for especially insensitive, racist, or stereotypical reporting, commentary, photography, or cartoons about the Black community or for engaging in practices at odds with the goals” of NABJ.
Errin Haines, the noted Black journalist and CEO of the group, made the announcement. She made unhesitatingly strong comments about Stephen A. Smith’s role in perpetuating, if not starting, what she called a continued broadside against Black women and the Black community.
He, of course, demurred and has vowed broadcast revenge against both Ms. Haines and the NABJ. Just what we need right now: Prominent Black media people in a nasty nig__ sh__ argument, when what’s required is all Black hands on deck !!! The attack is on all of us. When will we learn?
