Miss Black USA Pageant

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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] While Ms. Arrington has a long-standing history of hosting a national Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant, her system has not been exclusive in doing so consecutively. As indicated by the chart below, there have been some years where "no pageant was held" by Ms. Arrington's State of Maryland organized non-profit, for example in years such as 1998, 1999 and 2000. However, similar to Miss USA and Miss America both being national systems, there have been other non-profits to host national scholarship pageants to celebrate Black women, with documented queens.

Contents

The Miss Black USA Pageant System founded by Ms. Arrington is a non-profit corporation in the state of Maryland, recognized under the 501(c)3 code of the Internal Revenue Service. The current titleholder under her pageant system is Kennedy Lucas of Maryland, who was crowned on August 4, 2024.

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, [7] California, [8] Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, [9] Massachusetts, [10] Mississippi, [11] New York, [12] North Carolina, [13] Ohio, [14] Oregon, [15] Pennsylvania, South Carolina, [16] Tennessee, [17] Virginia [18] and Washington. [19] [20] 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

YearNameStateNotes
1987Tamiko GibsonMarylandCrowned June 6, 1987, in Washington, D.C.
1988Melanie Elaine Rainey
1989Leslie Elizabeth Waddell (later Ezina LeBlanc)MichiganCrowned in College Park, Maryland. [21] (*Later dethroned and replaced by first runner-up, Elizabeth Regina Wallace of Florida) [22]
1990Clarissa LesterSouth Carolina
1991Tarsha WhitakerHouston
1992
1993Ebony WarrenFlorida
1994Deya SmithConnecticut
1995Sheila Mutumba RugegeLouisiana
1996Dawn MossMaryland
1997Caroline MackNorth Carolina
1998Alicia HughesTexasCrowned in Houston, Texas, on August 22, 1998. [23] (Pageant hosted by USA Metroplex Pageant Systems, Inc.) [22]
1999No pageant held
2000No pageant held
2001Lisa Marie MireeOhioCrowned March 24, 2011, in Birmingham, Alabama.
2002No pageant held [5]
2003Elizabeth MutoNevadaCrowned August 23, 2003, in Miami. Returned crown four months later. [6]
2004No pageant held [5]
2005Celi Marie DeanMinnesotaCrowned August 7, 2005, in Washington, D.C.
2006
2007Kalilah Allen-HarrisTennesseeCrowned June 1, 2007, in The Gambia. [24]
2008Kristen E. WhiteGeorgia
2009Shayna Y. RuddPennsylvaniaCrowned August 3, 2009, in Washington, D.C. [25]
2010 Osas Ighodaro ConnecticutCrowned August 9, 2010, in Washington, D.C. [26]
2011Ocielia GibsonTexasCrowned August 8, 2011, in Washington, D.C. [27] [28]
2012Salena WatkinsNew YorkCrowned August 13, 2012, in Washington, D.C. [29]
2013Amanda McCoyNorth CarolinaCrowned August 12, 2013, in Washington, D.C. [30]
2014Jasmin AlexanderColoradoCrowned August 10, 2014, in Washington, D.C.
2015Madison GibbsNorth CarolinaCrowned August 9, 2015, in Washington, D.C. [31]
2016Tonille Simone WatkisConnecticutCrowned August 7, 2016, in Washington, D.C. [32]
2017Daphne Marcelle LeeNew JerseyCrowned August 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
2018Kelsi Alexandria Horn*MichiganCrowned August 12, 2018, in Washington, D.C. (*Later dethroned and replaced by first runner-up, Kelli Abernathy of Alabama)
2019TeKema BalentineWisconsinCrowned August 11, 2019, in Washington, D.C.
2020No pageant held
2021Myja GaryVirginiaCrowned August 8, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
2022Tahira GilyardNew YorkCrowned August 7, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
2023Ariel ThompsonKentuckyCrowned August 6, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Resigned in April 2024. [33]
2024Kennedy LucasMarylandCrowned August 4, 2024 in Washington, D.C.

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:

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References

  1. ↑ Miss Black USA
  2. ↑ Smith, Jessie Carney, ed. (2011). 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 3 "Unhappy Miss Black USA returns her crown". South Florida Business Journal. 8 December 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.missblackarizona Arizona
  8. ↑ http://www.missblackcalifornia.com California
  9. ↑ http://www.missblackiowausa.org Iowa
  10. ↑ http://www.missblackmass.org Archived 2010-06-05 at the Wayback Machine Massachusetts
  11. ↑ Mississippi
  12. ↑ http://www.beautys-ink.com New York
  13. ↑ http://www.noireproductions.com/missblacknorthcarolina.htm North Carolina
  14. ↑ http://www.missblackohiousa.com Ohio
  15. ↑ http://www.missblackoregon.org Oregon
  16. ↑ http://www.missblacksc.org South Carolina
  17. ↑ http://www.missblacktennessee.com Tennessee
  18. ↑ http://www.houseofl.org Virginia
  19. ↑ http://www.missblackwashington.org Washington
  20. ↑ "Media Meets Majesty: Justine Baker Miss Black Washington Eyes National Crown".
  21. ↑ "Miss Black USA". Jet. 16 January 1989. p. 54.
  22. 1 2 Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 1990-07-09.
  23. ↑ "Miss Black USA". Jet. 28 September 1998. p. 22.
  24. ↑ Stuart, Shantiqua S. (8 August 2007). "Miss Black USA 2007 Speaks Candidly to Black Voice News". Black Voice News. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  25. ↑ Brown, DeNeen L. (5 August 2009). "Meaning of Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant Runs Deep". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  26. ↑ "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.
  27. ↑ "2011 Miss Black U.S.A., Presented by Calgon, Crowns Winner in Washington, D.C." Business Wire. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  28. ↑ Nicholson, Eunice. "Dallas' Ocielia Gibson speaks about reign as Miss Black USA". Dallas South News. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  29. ↑ "Salena Watkins crowned Miss Black USA 2012". WJLA News. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  30. ↑ Watson, Andrea V. (21 August 2013). "Amanda McCoy Wins Miss Black USA". Jet. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  31. ↑ Elz, Kai (14 August 2015). "Miss Black USA 2015 Crowned". Chicago Defender. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  32. ↑ Tonille Watkis Crowned Miss Black USA 2016
  33. ↑ "MBUSA Press".
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