Word In Black, a national collaborative of Black-owned media outlets that includes The St. Louis American, has won the 2026 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Journalism.
The award recognized “On Borrowed Time,” a reporting series on organ donation and transplantation written by journalist Anissa Durham.
The honor is significant because this year marked the first time the NAACP Image Awards included a journalism category.
Word In Black’s series was nominated alongside reporting from major national outlets including CNN and The New York Times, according to the organization.
Liz Courquet-Lesaulnier, managing director of Word In Black, said the project examined issues surrounding organ donation and transplantation in Black communities.
“Anissa’s extraordinary reporting made it exceptional,” Courquet-Lesaulnier said.
Word In Black is a partnership of Black-owned news organizations across the United States focused on reporting on issues affecting Black communities.