Miss Black USA Pageant

The Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant is a national scholarship competition for young women of African descent that was founded in 1986 by Karen Arrington.^[1][2]

The Miss Black USA Pageant is a non-profit corporation in the state of Maryland, recognized under the 501(c)3 code of the Internal Revenue Service, awarding scholarships for college and graduate school to young women of color between the ages of 18 and 27. In 2007, over eighty percent of the contestants were pursuing graduate or professional degrees. The winner that year was a first-year medical student at Meharry Medical College. Each year, a winner is selected to serve as "Miss Black USA" for one year and receives an academic scholarship.

History and former titleholders

The first titleholder was Tamiko Gibson, representing Maryland, who was crowned Miss Black USA 1987 at the JW Marriot in Washington, D.C. on June 6, 1987.^[3] Gibson would later complain that she had been improperly dethroned in May 1988 and received none of the promised prizes.^[4][5]

On August 23, 2003, Elizabeth Muto won the pageant, which was held in Miami.^[6] Muto returned her crown later that year because she was unhappy with the contract that the pageant asked her to sign, which would have made them her exclusive publicist, agent and manager.^[6]

State pageants

Each year, state competitions are held across the nation including Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee,Virginia and Washington. The Miss Black USA organization licenses the state pageants. Women from areas where a state pageant is not held may apply as a delegate-at-large.

Winners

Year	Name	State	Notes
1987	Tamiko Gibson	Maryland	Crowned June 6, 1987 in Washington, D.C.
1988	Melanie Elaine Rainey
1989	Leslie Elizabeth Waddell	Michigan	Crowned in College Park, Maryland.[7]
1990	Clarissa Lester	South Carolina
1991
1992
1993	Ebony Warren	Florida
1994	Deya Smith	Connecticut
1995	Sheila Mutumba Rugege	Louisiana
1996	Dawn Moss	Maryland
1997	Caroline Mack	North Carolina
1998	No pageant held[8]
1999	No pageant held
2000	No pageant held
2001	Lisa Marie Miree	Ohio	Crowned March 24, 2011 in Birmingham, Alabama.
2002	No pageant held[5]
2003	Elizabeth Muto	Nevada	Crowned August 23, 2003 in Miami. Returned crown four months later.[9]
2004	No pageant held[5]
2005	Celi Marie Dean	Minnesota	Crowned August 7, 2005 in Washington, D.C.
2006
2007	Kalilah Allen-Harris	Tennessee
2008	Kristen E. White	Georgia
2009	Shayna Y. Rudd	Pennsylvania	Crowned August 3, 2009 in Washington, D.C.[10]
2010	Osas Ighodaro	Connecticut	Crowned August 9, 2010 in Washington, D.C.[11]
2011	Ocielia Gibson	Texas	Crowned August 8, 2011 in Washington, D.C.[12][13]
2012	Salena Watkins	New York	Crowned August 13, 2012 in Washington, D.C.[14]
2013	Amanda McCoy	North Carolina	Crowned August 12, 2013 in Washington, D.C.[15]
2014	Jasmin Alexander	Colorado	Crowned August 10, 2014 in Washington, D.C.
2015	Madison Gibbs	North Carolina	Crowned August 9, 2015 in Washington, D.C.[16]
2016	TBA	TBA	TBA

Local and State winners

Miss Black USA state and local delegate winners and contestants have gone on to successful careers in entertainment, law, education, medicine and other arenas. Some of the state and local pageant's winners include:

• Kia Talein Anderson-DeJan (Miss Black Maryland 1994) — R&B/Gospel Recording artist, radio and TV Personality and actress.
• Dr. Lynette Danley-Land (Miss Black Iowa USA 1995) — College professor, author and speaker.
• Valorie Burton (Former Miss Black Texas USA 1995) — Former co-host of Bishop TD Jake's Potter House, life coach and author.
• Kemba Cofield (Miss Black Kentucky USA 1996) — Jazz recording artist
• Chloe Johnson (Miss Black Colorado USA 2011) — Television personality, model and dancer.
• Kade Henderson (Miss Black New York USA 2015, Community Ambassador Award Recipient) Brand and Wardrobe Stylist and Digital Merchant
• Ashley Jones (Miss Black Michigan USA 2015, Top 15 Miss Black USA 2015 national pageant and Community Ambassador Award Recipient) model and actress

References

1. Miss Black USA
2. Smith, Jessie Carney (ed.). Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture. Greenwood. p. 122.
3. Allen, Freddy (27 August 2012). "New Miss Black USA ‘Ready’ for the Future". BlackPressUsa. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
4. Trescott, Jacqueline (5 August 1988). "Black Pageant Under Fire". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
5. Zak, Dan (10 August 2005). "Miss Black USA pageant bumpy but it's refocusing". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
6. "Unhappy Miss Black USA returns her crown". South Florida Business Journal. 8 December 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
7. "Miss Black USA". Jet. 16 January 1989. p. 54.
8. "Alicia Hughes Was Never Miss Black USA". Alexandria News. 21 July 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
9. "Unhappy Miss Black USA returns her crown". South Florida Business Journal. 8 December 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
10. Brown, DeNeen L. (5 August 2009). "Meaning of Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant Runs Deep". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
11. "Miss Black Connecticut Crowned Miss Black USA® 2010 in the Nation's Capital" (Press release). Upper Marlboro, Maryland: PR Newswire. 12 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
12. "2011 Miss Black U.S.A., Presented by Calgon, Crowns Winner in Washington, D.C.". Business Wire. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
13. Nicholson, Eunice. "Dallas’ Ocielia Gibson speaks about reign as Miss Black USA". Dallas South News. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
14. "Salena Watkins crowned Miss Black USA 2012". WJLA News. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
15. Watson, Andrea V. (21 August 2013). "Amanda McCoy Wins Miss Black USA". Jet. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
16. Elz, Kai (14 August 2015). "Miss Black USA 2015 Crowned". Chicago Defender. Retrieved 20 August 2015.