DUBAI: Part-Middle Eastern US actress Yara Shahidi has been nominated for a NAACP Image Award and took to social media to share her appreciation. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the US-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The awards show honors outstanding performances in film, television, theater, music, and literature and the next ceremony will be held on March 17, with the first having taken place in 1967. Yara Shahidi on the set of ‘Sitting in Bars with Cake,’ for which she was nominated. (Instagram) “I am honored to be nominated for a NAACP Image Award alongside such talented culture makers. This is so meaningful to me as ‘Sitting in Bars with Cake’ represents an experience so many of us who’ve stood beside a friend or loved one battling cancer hold dear — celebrating the moments of community and camaraderie through life’s most challenging tribulations. Thank you,” Shahidi wrote on Instagram. Shahidi, whose father is Iranian, was nominated for the outstanding actress in a motion series category for her role in “Sitting in Bars with Cake,” a romantic comedy-drama film directed by Trish Sie and written by Audrey Shulman. The film tells the true story of a pair of best friends who cook up an unlikely plan to be more social, before one is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Shahidi’s fellow nominees in the category include Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for “Origin,” Fantasia Barrino for “The Color Purple,” Halle Bailey for “The Little Mermaid,” and Teyana Taylor for “A Thousand And One.” Shahidi has had a rewarding month and was ecstatic on social media on Jan. 16 when she revealed that her TED Talks appearance was finally released to the public almost a year after she took to the stage in Vancouver. Shahidi was the breakout star of the ABC shows “Black-ish” and “Grown-ish.” Her talk was titled “Let Curiosity Lead.” “April 2023 I was invited to speak at @TED in Vancouver. I said, I was invited to speak at TED!! While still in awe of the ask to share my thoughts during this iconic conference, I also sit in gratitude to have shared the stage with people who have changed my trajectory and introduced me to new ways of thinking (sic),” she posted on Instagram. The Harvard graduate also fronted French label Jean-Paul Gaultier’s “Divine” campaign last year. The collaboration came after Shahidi was spotted wearing an exquisite custom-made, bronzed look by Jean Paul Gaultier at the 2023 Met Gala in May. This is not Shahidi’s only brand collaboration. She previously partnered with Dior for the launch of their Rouge Dior Forever — the stick version of Dior’s best-selling Rouge Dior liquid lipstick.