(16 Jan 2018) HALLE BERRY, KERRY WASHINGTON, MORE ARRIVE TO NAACP IMAGE AWARDS HELD ON MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOLIDAY Halle Berry, Kerry Washington and Chadwick Boseman hit the red carpet on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday (15 JAN. 2018) celebrating the NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California. Actress and singer LeToya Luckett called it a "perfect day" to honor black entertainers while remembering King. "It's a perfect day to celebrate black greatness, because, you know, a King – who was once with us – whose legacy still lives on, who is the reason why we can freely walk the streets unapologetically, and share our crafts the way we do," she said. Young "A Wrinkle in Time" star Storm Reid agreed. "I feel like it's such a beautiful day and such a great day to be here on Martin Luther King day. And then just to be around so many influential, great people and African-American people – and this is like an award show for us, made for us, by us," she said. "Queen Sugar" actress Bianca Lawson linked the awards show's timing to recent Time's Up and #metoo movements. "I like that. There's no, like, fear right now. People are just saying 'this is my truth. This is what needs to change.' But it feels like it's, like, an atmosphere of love. I guess there's some negative energy, but like, for the most part, people are really coming together and supporting each other. So this feels like a perfect day," she said. "Girl's Trip" director Malcolm D. Lee said his film's star Jada Pinkett Smith had been right in directing criticism in recent months at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- which didn't recognize the film's breakout star Tiffany Haddish with a Golden Globes nomination. "She made a lot of sense. You know, I think what happens is we get very stuck in the way that we perceive black people. And if we are not out there, like, protecting our own images and presenting images that are normalized – like normal black life – not just something that's downtrodden or drugs or domestic help or what have you, then you know, that's all they're going to think that we are, and that's what is award worthy. So I think Jada was on point and I think the Golden Globes missed," Lee said. "Empire" star Jussie Smollett was celebrating his first single to be released outside the confines of the musical TV show. "'Freedom,' yeah 'Freedom' is my first single, my first official real single from myself. So I directed the video. It's with Tika Sumpter and Cynthia Erivo. Second single comes out next month with Swizz Beats and then the album comes out March 2, so it's exciting. I'm happy to be doing my own thing. It's really fun," Smollett said. He wrote the lyrics himself -- part of a write-every-day practice he's kept up since he was a child. "My mother always said, write every single day, whether it's a line, lyrics, a love letter, a haiku, it doesn't matter - write every single day. And I still do that to this day and I'm in my 30s now, so yeah, it'll always be that way," he said. Luckett was still feeling like she was on her honeymoon after her wedding in Texas last month to businessman Tommicus Walker. "We had an amazing honeymoon. Went to the Maldives and went to Dubai. We are kind of still honeymooning," she said. "I'm still there in my mind. I know I'm here, but my mind is in Dubai – actually it's in Maldives, laying on the beach right now." And Isaiah Washington had more to celebrate than awards on the red carpet. Others in attendance at the Image Awards included Tracee Ellis Ross, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Glover, Michael B. Jordan and Ava DuVernay. You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/0528119f86b9d4f48e63eb5dd4737027 Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

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