United AALS Honors Community Service Stars

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The United Way of Anderson County honored local leaders at the 2025 African American Leadership Society Gala on Friday at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anderson.

This year’s winners of the AALS awards are: Xavier Smith, Emerging Leadership Award; Deran Dawson, Ambassador Leadership Award; Johnny Sellers, Community Trailblazer Award; Marian Freeman Robinson, Dr. Beatrice Thompson Legacy Award; and the Anderson Alumnae, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated®️ Community Organization Award.

This year’s keynote, L. Oveta Glover, in September 1963 was one of the 11 African American students who desegregated Charleston County’s white schools, making South Carolina the last state to desegregate its public school system.

Glover is president of the Columbia branch of the NAACP president

“My message is that we have to stay connected as a people in general, no matter what race, creed or color you are,” said Glover. “We have a lot of trials and tribulations that are going on right now that are going to affect our youth in the future. So, we need to pay attention to what is going on around us.”

Glover encouraged those in attendance to: “Educate yourself, engage yourself, empower someone else, be encouraged, encourage someone else.”