The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best literature in America, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in American culture. 

On November 18, 2020, the National Book Foundation announced the award for Nonfiction: The Dead are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Tamara Payne and Les Payne! 

Finalists included:  Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunt, An Autobiography of Carson McCullers, by Jenn Shapland, The Undocumented Americans by Karlo Cornejo Villavicencio, and How to Make A Slave and Other Essays, by Jerald Walker.