Oakland-born poet and filmmaker Chinaka Hodge earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for the 2025 Disney+ series, “Ironheart.”
For Hodge, the head writer and executive producer of the six-episode miniseries’ first season, it’s a full circle moment.
As a second-year graduate student in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts program, Hodge received a CBS/USC/NAACP Scholarship and Internship. The program provided space to write and placed her on the CBS lot. She also worked with the NAACP Hollywood Bureau to produce the very awards for which she is now nominated.
That award show took place days after Whitney Houston passed away. Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier mourned, Hodge recalled. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele just launched their sketch comedy series.
Ironheart follows the grit, grind, and grief of Riri Williams as she returns to Chicago following the events of Wakanda Forever in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Hodge feels grateful for the nomination.
“I feel very, very blessed to be in the field with my people, working for freedom,” Hodge told Oakland Voices. “I’m floored by the room. I’m floored by the company.”
Fellow nominees in the category of Outstanding Limited Television, which includes series, specials, and movies, are G20 (Prime Video), Ironheart (Disney+), Ruth & Boaz (Netflix), Straw (Netflix), and Washington Black (Hulu).
“It feels like incredibly fortuitous timing,” Hodge said, “a sign from my Maker that I continue to be protected and in favor.”
The NAACP Image Awards started in 1967 to fight discrimination in the film, music, and television industry. The show honors Black achievement in the industry and seeks to improve the image of people of color in entertainment.
The winners will be announced on February 28, 2026.
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