# NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography

This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Biography/Autobiography.

## Winners and finalists

Award winners and nominees :
| Year | Author(s) | Title | Result |
| 2007 | Chris Gardner | The Pursuit of Happyness | Winner |
| 2007 | Christopher John Farley | Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley | Nominee |
| 2007 | Mike Freeman | Jim Brown: The Fierce Life of an American Hero | Nominee |
| 2007 | Rain Pryor | Jokes My Father Never Taught Me | Nominee |
| 2007 | Wangarĩ Maathai | Unbowed | Nominee |
| 2008 | David Mendell | Obama: From Promise to Power | Winner |
| 2008 | Eddie Levert, Sr., Gerald Levert, and Lyah Leflore | I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep it Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship | Nominee |
| 2008 | Clarence Thomas | My Grandfather's Son | Nominee |
| 2008 | Tommie Smith and David Steele | Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith | Nominee |
| 2008 | Victoria Rowell | The Women Who Raised Me: A Memoir | Nominee |
| 2009 | Diahann Carroll | The Legs Are the Last to Go | Winner |
| 2010 | Deborah Willis and Emily Bernard | Michelle Obama: The First Lady In Photographs | Winner |
| 2010 | Cornel West | Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud | Nominee |
| 2010 | Terry Teachout | POPS: A Life of Louis | Nominee |
| 2010 | LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger | Shooting Stars | Nominee |
| 2010 | James Gavin | Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne | Nominee |
| 2011 | Ray Charles Robinson, Jr. | You Don’t Know Me: Reflections of My Father, Ray Charles | Winner |
| 2012 | Harry Belafonte and Michael Shnayerson | My Song: A Memoir | Winner |
| 2012 | Condoleezza Rice | No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington | Nominee |
| 2012 | Dave Zirin and John Wesley Carlos | The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World | Nominee |
| 2012 | Janny Scott | A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother | Nominee |
| 2012 | Manning Marable | Malcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention | Nominee |
| 2013 | John Lewis | Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change | Winner |
| 2013 | Kofi Annan | Interventions: A Life in War and Peace | Nominee |
| 2013 | RJ Smith | The One: The Life and Music of James Brown | Nominee |
| 2013 | Tom Reiss | The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo | Nominee |
| 2013 | Will Allen | The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities | Nominee |
| 2014 | Jeanne Theoharis | The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks | Winner |
| 2014 | Maya Angelou | Mom & Me & Mom | Nominee |
| 2014 | M. K. Asante | Buck: A Memoir | Nominee |
| 2014 | Stanley Crouch | Kansas City Lightning: The Rise And Times Of Charlie Parker | Nominee |
| 2014 | Terry Teachout | Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington | Nominee |
| 2015 | David Chanoff and Louis Sullivan | Breaking Ground: My Life in Medicine | Winner |
| 2015 | Misty Copeland | Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina | Nominee |
| 2015 | Jessye Norman | Stand Up Straight and Sing! | Nominee |
| 2015 | Marion Barry Jr. and Omar Tyree | Mayor For Life: The Incredible Story of Marion Barry Jr. | Nominee |
| 2015 | Rosie Perez | Handbook For An Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata And My Crazy Mother, And Still Came Out Smiling (With Great Hair) | Nominee |
| 2016 | Ta-Nehisi Coates | Between the World And Me | Winner |
| 2016 | Arthur Browne | One Righteous Man: Samuel Battle and the Shattering of the Color Line in New York | Nominee |
| 2016 | Jan Gaye and David Ritz | After the Dance: My Life With Marvin Gaye | Nominee |
| 2016 | Reggie Love | Power Forward: My Presidential Education | Nominee |
| 2016 | Shonda Rhimes | Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person | Nominee |
| 2017 | Trevor Noah | Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood | Winner |
| 2017 | Taraji P. Henson | Around the Way Girl: A Memoir | Nominee |
| 2017 | Nathaniel Jones | Answering the Call: An Autobiography of the Modern Struggle to End Racial Discrimination in America | Nominee |
| 2017 | Mychal Denzel Smith | Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching, A Young Black Man's Education | Nominee |
| 2017 | Herb Powell and Maurice White | My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire | Nominee |
| 2018 | Susan Burton and Cari Lynn | Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women | Winner |
| 2018 | Jonathan Eig | Ali: A Life | Nominee |
| 2018 | Lawrence P. Jackson | Chester B. Himes | Nominee |
| 2018 | Peter Baker | Obama: The Call of History | Nominee |
| 2018 | Gabrielle Union | We're Going to Need More Wine | Nominee |
| 2019 | Michelle Obama | Becoming | Winner |
| 2019 | Franchesca Ramsey | Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist | Nominee |
| 2019 | Jeffrey C. Stewart | The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke | Nominee |
| 2019 | Nelson Mandela | The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela | Nominee |
| 2019 | Zora Neale Hurston and Deborah G. Plant | Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" | Nominee |
| 2020 | Elaine Welteroth | More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) | Winner |
| 2020 | Cyntoia Brown-Long | Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System | Nominee |
| 2020 | Prince Rogers Nelson | The Beautiful Ones | Nominee |
| 2020 | Prince Rogers Nelson and Randee St. Nicholas | My Name Is Prince | Nominee |
| 2020 | Valerie Jarrett | Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward | Nominee |
| 2021 | Les Payne and Tamara Payne | The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X | Winner |
| 2021 | Arshay Cooper | A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team | Nominee |
| 2021 | Barack Obama | A Promised Land | Nominee |
| 2021 | Deborah Draper | Olympic Pride, American Prejudice | Nominee |
| 2021 | Willie O’Ree | Willie: The Game-Changing Story of the NHL’s First Black Player | Nominee |
| 2022 | Will Smith | Will | Winner |
| 2022 | Cicely Tyson | Just As I Am | Nominee |
| 2022 | Tarana Burke | Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement | Nominee |
| 2022 | Billy Porter | Unprotected: A Memoir | Nominee |
| 2022 | Keisha Blain | Until I Am Free | Nominee |
| 2023 | Michael K. Williams | Scenes from My Life: A Memoir | Winner |
| 2023 | Cynt Marshall | You’ve Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected | Nominee |
| 2023 | Jenifer Lewis | Walking in My Joy: In These Streets | Nominee |
| 2023 | Michelle Obama | The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times | Nominee |
| 2023 | Raphael G. Warnock | A Way Out of No Way: A Memoir of Truth, Transformation, and the New American Story | Nominee |
| 2024 | Tanisha C. Ford | Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement | Winner |
| 2024 | Maya Moore Irons | Love and Justice: A Story of Triumph on Two Different Courts | Nominee |
| 2024 | Rich Paul | Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds | Nominee |
| 2024 | Nicole Walters | Nothing Is Missing | Nominee |
| 2024 | Stephen A. Smith | Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes | Nominee |