As Awards Season Wraps Up, the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards Honor Our Magic

The competition may be fierce for Hollywood’s top honors on Oscars Sunday, but at the annual Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards luncheon on Wednesday, it was all love ... with fierceness of a different sort.

This year’s honorees Regina Hall, KiKi Layne, Amandla Stenberg and the “Mother of Black Hollywood” Jenifer Lewis were all on hand to accept their statuettes at the star-studded ceremony, themed “The Power of Our Presence.” Also in the house at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel? Host Kelly Rowland, Ava DuVernay, Spike Lee, Angela Bassett, Regina King and many, many more of our faves of big and small screens alike.

And of course, where black women gather, #blackgirlmagic is sure to follow. The Root’s entertainment writer Tonja Stidhum was on the celebrity-laden red carpet (more on that to come), where there was an abundance of fashion—and fashun. We’ll let you decide who were the belles of the ball—or the brunch, in this case—but ahead of Hollywood’s controversial big night, it’s good to know that black women in Hollywood are still winning!