Stephen A. Smith Earned That NABJ Thumbs Down Award [Op-Ed]

Stephen A. Smith, sir, my brother in hair lines that died on the cross, I’m going to hold your hands when I say this — you should sit this one out.

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) had its annual four-day convention in Atlanta last week, and on Saturday, during the convention’s Salute to Excellence Awards Gala, Smith was one of five individuals and institutions of journalism to receive NABJ’s 2026 Thumbs Down Award, which “recognizes conduct that harms Black journalists, weakens newsroom equity or editorial independence, reinforces damaging betrayals of Black people, or compromises the public service mission of journalism.”

“Smith has established a recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media,” said the narrator on a video played at the convention, announcing Smith’s award. “Such commentary reinforces harmful narratives, undermines the fair and respectful representation of Black women in public discourse, and stands in direct conflict with NABJ’s longstanding commitment to accurate, responsible, and inclusive portrayals of Black communities.”

So, now Stephen A. Smith is mad.

Smith knows what NABJ is and what the institution means to the world of Black journalism. It’s a convention that is frequented by some of the greatest and most prominent figures in journalism, education, entertainment, and literature. He has a long history with NABJ, having hosted live broadcasts of ESPN’s First Take at the convention as recently as 2024. Now, the Black journalists he considered his peers are at the cookout table, giving him a “You Can’t Sit With Us, Cause You Musty” award, and laughing about it on camera.

“This is the epitome of Christmas arriving early,” Smith tweeted on Sunday. “The NABJ wants to call folks out, fine! You had your turn, now mine is coming. And make no mistake…..,I’m coming. Let’s see who REALLY deserves a Thumbs Down award when it comes to the Black Community, after I say my peace! Remember NABJ, you asked for it. I’ve shut my mouth for years. Now y’all started something.”

First of all, sir, negro of House Smith, when has your mouth ever been shut?

Look, I’ve never been one to tell anyone to “shut up and dribble.” Smith is a sports analyst, but that doesn’t, in and of itself, mean he should stick to sports, especially as a Black broadcaster. But here’s a question: have you ever heard Smith speak intelligibly about anything non-sports-related? Has he ever uttered a word about, say, politics that indicated he has any idea what’s even going on in the political world?

All I’m saying is if Smith really has “shut his mouth for years” regarding his political commentary, he wouldn’t have been out here criticizing Rep. Jasmine Crockett as an aggressive Black woman who says “the most derogatory, incendiary things imaginable” to President Donald Trump, while characterizing Trump as a reasonable man who Crockett should cozy up to show she’s “willing to work with this man.”

Smith ended up apologizing to Crockett because eventually it dawned on him that Trump — who never met a Black woman or a woman of color or a Somali immigrant or a Stephen A. Smith he didn’t want to call “low-!Q — is a person who can’t breathe more than an hour’s worth of free air without choking out incendiary remarks as someone else.

As I noted in my previous report on Smith’s remarks towards Crockett, Smith launched his loud, wrong, and sambo-ish criticism at Crockett during a time when she was regularly being called “ghetto,” a “fake ghetto hoodrat,” a “ghetto Black b*tch,” a wannabe “gangsta” who “wants you to think she’s from the hood,” and a “fraud” who is only pretending to be of the Black community, but is too educated to actually be of the Black community, all by racist white conservatives. He joined that chorus line of MAGA racists — who he must know share plenty of overlap with his audience at ESPN — willingly, and now he wonders why the audience got so loud once his name was added to the “Thumbs Down” award at NABJ.

Hell, the curators at NABJ didn’t even mention the years Smith has spent defending Trump against allegations of anti-Black racism; stopping at his disrespect of prominent Black women was actually them doing him a favor.

Besides, it’s not like he learned anything from the humble pie he had to scarf down while apologizing to Crockett. Here he is just last week, showering Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vice President J.D. Vance with praise regarding what strong presidential candidates they would make for the Republican Party after Trump.

“JD Vance knows how to handle himself in front of the camera. He’s younger, he’s sharp, he’s articulate,” Smith said. “Marco Rubio has been a long-time senator, is the secretary of state, director of national security, whose credentials are pretty freaking impeccable. Both of them articulate themselves very well. In Rubio’s case, he’s bilingual — of Cuban descent. And that ain’t gon’ hurt him.”

Notice, Smith doesn’t say a word about either Vance’s or Rubio’s policies or political ideas. So, of course, there’s no reason to expect him to mention Vance’s bigotry and hateful propaganda spread about Haitians in Ohio, his willful defense of a group of Young Republican “kids” in their 20s, 30s and 40s, who were caught in a group chat being Nazi-loving racists, or his own racist comments towards Crockett. He also didn’t mention the way Rubio got on board with denying migrants their right to due process, and the way he moved to deport Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil just because Khalil engaged in protests he and Trump didn’t like.

Smith spoke about Rubio like he was reading straight off of his LinkedIn page to list his qualifications for office, but at least that was more than he did in his praise of DeSantis.

“Say what you want about DeSantis; he’s an executive,” Smith said. “I got some issues with him. Can’t wait to interview him. But I got news for you; he’s an executive, and I don’t hear too many people complaining about the state of Florida.

Sir, by brother in off-beat tap-dancing Christ, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ANYONE BESIDES FLORIDA REPUBLICANS TALK ABOUT FLORIDA?

Smith couldn’t be talking about the same Florida whose Board of Education implemented new educational standards that require teachers to teach that enslaved people benefited from their enslavement because it taught them skills, and that Black people also committed acts of violence during anti-Black race massacres like Tulsa and Ocoee. Not the same Florida where officials selected PragerU—an unaccredited conservative non-profit organization founded by a loud and proud racist—to provide classroom materials to Florida schools. Not Alligator Alcatraz Florida.

Sure, DeSantis is “an executive” in that he’s the chief executive of the state executive branch, just like literally every other governor of every other state, but he’s still a racist, gerrymandering-to-dilute-Black-voting-power, obsessive advocate of the white-and-fragile “stop WOKE” movement.

Smith praised these white men and even offered dignified criticism to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he said “can argue against anybody” and “sounds smooth as hell right up until a minute you look at California.” But between praising Vance, Rubio, and DeSantis for how articulate they are, and soft-balling his criticism of Newsom while continuing to praise his speaking power, Smith said this about a prominent, accomplished Black woman and a prominent, accomplished woman of color:

“Do you think Kamala Harris or AOC can deal with them?”

So, again, sit this one out, sir. You’re going up against the biggest and brightest minds in Black journalism, and they have years of on-camera receipts to show you as the shucking and jiving political rube, who lacks depth in every category besides the butt imprint you leave on couches in the Sunken Place.

Go find yourself something else to do, bro. This ain’t what you want.

SEE ALSO:

Stephen A. Smith Spent Years Auditioning For NABJ’s Thumbs Down Award

Donald Trump Is Now Beefing With Stephen A. Smith, And, Well, That’s Interesting