The Columbia Urban League hosted its 40th Annual Young & Gifted Awards Ceremony on Saturday, February 28, 2026, celebrating the achievements of more than 1,600 African American high school seniors. The event took place at 1066 Sunset Blvd. in West Columbia.
Each year, the Columbia Urban League hosts an awards ceremony for young African American students from Allendale, Calhoun, Clarendon, Fairfield, Florence, Keshaw, Lee, Lexington, Marion, Newberry, Richland, and Sumter counties.
This year’s keynote speaker was Representative Hamilton Grant. Grant serves as the representative for District 79 in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Grant is also the president of Grant Business Advisors.
Grant, a past recipient of the Young and Gifted award, has worked to serve the community and uplift youth as a former president of the Columbia Urban League Young Professionals.
Intentionally recognized during Black History Month,
the Young & Gifted Awards Ceremony is the largest event across the state that celebrates African American achievement.
“This ceremony spotlights those remarkable seniors who have gone beyond ordinary expectations,” Columbia Urban League President and CEO James T. McLawhorn, Jr. said. “This recognition salutes
achievement as a pathway to overcome life challenges and prepares students to become productive and contributing members of society.”
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History announced this year’s Black History Month theme as “A Century of Black History Commemorations.”
2026 marks 100 years since Dr. Cater G. Woodson launched Negro History Week. In 1976, then President Gerald Ford issued a message recognizing the celebration as Black History Month to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans.”
