Miss Black USA Pageant

Not to be confused with Miss Black America or Miss Black United States.

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]

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:

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. 1 2 3 Zak, Dan (10 August 2005). "Miss Black USA pageant bumpy but it's refocusing". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 "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.
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