Emmy and BAFTA nominee Dominique Fishback is set to receive the Culture Certified award at The Creative Collective's inaugural Creative Class celebration. The Culture Certified award will honor both established and emerging Black talent and seeks to recognize individuals whose contributions significantly impact, influence, and shape cultural landscapes at large. The special award is presented by the Create Collective (CCNYC) in partnership with Prime Video's Culture Rated initiative, which champions Black creatives, perspectives, and community across social media, on Prime Video and with in-person events, like CultureCon. The prize marks the latest accolade for Fishback, who experienced a breakout year in 2023. She earned her first Emmy nomination for her buzzworthy performance as Dre in the Prime Video series 'Swarm.' Fishback also earned nods from the Indie Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, the NAACP Image Awards and more for her transformative work in the psychological comic thriller from co-creators Janine Nabers and Donald Glover. Last year, Fishback also starred in 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,' a globe-trotting adventure which took the place before the events of the first 'Transformers' film and following those of 'Bumblebee.' Previously, Fishback earned a Critics Choice nomination for her performance opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the Apple TV+ series 'The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,' and she got a BAFTA nod for her portrayal of Black Panther party activist Deborah Johnson in the Academy Award-nominated film 'Judas and the Black Messiah,' alongside Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield. The Brooklyn native's credits also include HBO's 'The Deuce,' 'Project Power,' 'The Hate U Give' and 'Night Comes On.' In addition to acting, Fishback is also a skilled spoken word poet and playwright. Her senior thesis at Pace University was a self-written 90-minute one woman spoken word poetry performance titled 'Subverted,' which explored Black identity and existence in a system rooted in inequality from 20 different viewpoints. In 2021, Variety exclusively announced that Fishback partnered with her 'Project Power' co-star, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, to adapt the one-woman show into a new special. Fishback will play more than 20 characters in show and will executive produce the project alongside Foxx and his producing partner Datari Turner. The inaugural Creative Class celebration will be held on Feb. 28 in New York to close out Black History Month. The event is a celebration of Black culture-shifters across a variety of disciplines including tech, social good, art, entertainment, fashion and beyond, who are shaping culture, advocating for their community and building their vision from the ground up. The 2024 cohort features 55 individuals, including Grammy-winning singer and 'Bel-Air' star Coco Jones, Kara Young ('I'm A Virgo'), Jean Elie ('Insecure'), Jocelyn Bioh ('Jaja's African Hair Braiding') and Crystal Renee ('Sistas,' 'Zatima'). Ahead of the awards ceremony, Imani Ellis, founder and CEO of CultureCon and The Creative Collective, sat down with Fishback for a candid conversation about her career. Watch the video above.
