Marsai Martin Among Early Winners at the Star-Studded NAACP Image Awards Dinner

Ahead of the NAACP Image Awards ceremony, the organisation held its non-televised awards dinner in Los Angeles on Friday. One of the big winners of the night [1] was Marsai Martin, whose role on Black-ish [2] earned her the awards for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series and outstanding performance by a youth. She also snagged the honour of outstanding breakthrough performance in a motion picture for her role in Little [3]. After her wins, the 15-year-old star took to Instagram to share her gratitude. "I'm shook. Thank you from the bottom of my heart," she captioned a sweet snap of her with the trophies [4].

Beyoncé, who skipped the red carpet, was another major honouree as she took home seven awards: outstanding female artist, outstanding album (Homecoming: The Live Album [5]), outstanding traditional song ("Spirit" [6]), outstanding contemporary song ("Before I Let Go" [7]), outstanding duo, group, or collaboration ("Brown Skin Girl" [8]), outstanding soundtrack/compilation album (The Lion King: The Gift [9]), and outstanding series or special variety (Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé [10]).

Also in attendance were Grown-ish [11] costars Chloe Bailey, Diggy Simmons, Francia Raisa, and Emily Arlook. Shahadi Wright Joseph, Elaine Welteroth, and Kiki Layne even made glamorous appearances celebrate some of the trailblazing people of colour in television, film, music, and literature. Look ahead to see some of the star-studded photos, and stay tuned for more snaps from the main event on Feb. 22!