The 36th NAACP Image Awards ceremony, presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music, and literature during the 2004 calendar year. The ceremony took place on March 19, 2005 and aired on Fox afew days later on March 25, 2005. It was hosted by Chris Tucker. Oprah Winfrey was inducted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame Award. Barack Obama was honored with the Chairman's Award for his success at the 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois. After his performance Prince received the Vanguard Award. In this year, a new award for Outstanding Independent or Foreign Motion Picture was bestowed for the very first time, which was won by the film adaption of the T. D. Jakes novel Woman Thou Art Loosed. The following is a listing of nominees, with winners in bold:

Special awards

Winners and nominees

Motion Picture

Television

Drama

Comedy

Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special

Daytime Drama Series

Overall acting

Reality and Variety

Recording

Literature