Columbus City Council honors local Black leaders at Poindexter Awards; Will Haygood delivers keynote

Columbus City Council hosted its annual Black History Month Poindexter Awards ceremony at City Hall, presenting honors to community leaders and authors and featuring a keynote by journalist Will Haygood. Council leadership opened the event by saying the program was intended to reclaim and center Black stories for future generations.

The evening’s keynote, Will Haygood, recounted personal stories from Columbus and the wider Black experience, invoking the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s exhortation to "keep hope alive" and urging civic participation. Haygood, a New York Times–bestselling author, tied local memories to national struggles and on multiple occasions framed the work of civic preservation as both personal and political; in his remarks he said, "keep hope alive," and later observed, "November is coming." He also stated, "Black folk did not stage the insurrection on January 6," a contested national reference he made without on-stage rebuttal.

The ceremony presented Poindexter Awards named for the Reverend James Preston Poindexter, a 19th-century civic leader and the first African American member of the Columbus City Council. Presenters read short biographies of honorees and noted the awards’ intent: to recognize people who build institutions and opportunity in Columbus.

Among the recipients, Dr. Jean T. Harris — the district leader who served as superintendent of Columbus City Schools — accepted an award and thanked colleagues, describing her education work as a "labor of love." The program highlighted that under her leadership the district served more than 51,000 students across about 118 schools, and that multiple high schools had been nationally recognized during her tenure. Other honorees included business and construction leader Dan Moncrief, longtime legislator and civic leader Ray Miller, entrepreneur Elsie Johnson (founder of Zora’s House), and attorney Alex Shumate, who was noted for his work with Squire Patton Boggs and as a founding director of Adelphi Bank.

Performances and readings framed the evening: singer Quan Howell led "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and poet Greg Corbin delivered pieces urging listeners not to "let anyone dim your light." The council presented a Poindexter award object created by local artist Richard Durotan Brown.

Council organizers closed by thanking staff and volunteers and noting that Haygood was signing copies of his new book outside the event. The transcript provided does not specify an exact calendar date for the ceremony.