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.Miss Black USA 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.
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 Harmony Edosomwan of Vermont, who was crowned on August 9, 2026.
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. Gibson would later complain that she had been improperly dethroned in May 1988 and received none of the promised prizes.
On August 23, 2003, Elizabeth Muto won the pageant, which was held in Miami. 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.
State pageants Each year, state competitions are held across the nation including Alabama, Arizona,http://www.missblackarizona Arizona California,http://www.missblackcalifornia.com California Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa,http://www.missblackiowausa.org Iowa Massachusetts,http://www.missblackmass.org Massachusetts Mississippi,Mississippi New York,http://www.beautys-ink.com New York North Carolina,http://www.noireproductions.com/missblacknorthcarolina.htm North Carolina Ohio,http://www.missblackohiousa.com Ohio Oregon,http://www.missblackoregon.org Oregon Pennsylvania, South Carolina,http://www.missblacksc.org South Carolina Tennessee,http://www.missblacktennessee.com Tennessee Virginiahttp://www.houseofl.org Virginia and Washington.http://www.missblackwashington.org 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 YearNameStateNotes1987Tamiko GibsonMarylandCrowned June 6, 1987, in Washington, D.C.1988Melanie Elaine RaineyIllinoisDied in 1995 at age 32.DEATHS1989Leslie Elizabeth Waddell (later Ezina LeBlanc)MichiganCrowned in College Park, Maryland. (*Later dethroned and replaced by first runner-up, Elizabeth Regina Wallace of Florida)1990Clarissa LesterSouth Carolina1991Tarsha WhitakerHouston19921993Ebony WarrenFlorida1994Deya SmithConnecticut1995Sheila Mutumba RugegeLouisiana1996Dawn MossMaryland1997Caroline MackNorth Carolina1998Alicia HughesTexasCrowned in Houston, Texas, on August 22, 1998. (Pageant hosted by USA Metroplex Pageant Systems, Inc.)1999No pageant held2000No pageant held2001Lisa Marie MireeOhioCrowned March 24, 2011, in Birmingham, Alabama.2002No pageant held2003Elizabeth MutoNevadaCrowned August 23, 2003, in Miami. Returned crown four months later.2004No pageant held2005Celi Marie DeanMinnesotaCrowned August 7, 2005, in Washington, D.C.20062007Kalilah Allen-HarrisTennesseeCrowned June 1, 2007, in The Gambia.2008Kristen E. WhiteGeorgia2009Shayna Y. RuddPennsylvaniaCrowned August 3, 2009, in Washington, D.C.2010Osas IghodaroConnecticutCrowned August 9, 2010, in Washington, D.C.2011Ocielia GibsonTexasCrowned August 8, 2011, in Washington, D.C.2012Salena WatkinsNew YorkCrowned August 13, 2012, in Washington, D.C.2013Amanda McCoyNorth CarolinaCrowned August 12, 2013, in Washington, D.C. 2014Jasmin Alexander ColoradoCrowned August 10, 2014, in Washington, D.C.2015Madison GibbsNorth CarolinaCrowned August 9, 2015, in Washington, D.C.2016Tonille Simone WatkisConnecticutCrowned August 7, 2016, in Washington, D.C.Tonille Watkis Crowned Miss Black USA 20162017Daphne 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 held2021Myja 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 2024.2024Kennedy LucasMarylandCrowned August 4, 2024 in Washington, D.C.2025Naiylah ArcherNew JerseyCrowned August 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C.2026Harmony EdosomwanVermontCrowned August 9, 2026 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: Rev. Deidra Avery, MDiv. (Miss Black Ohio 1993) – Minister. Kia Talein Anderson (Miss Black Maryland 1992 Miss Black USA First Runner-up 1993) – Award-Winning R&B/Gospel Recording artist, radio and TV Personality, actress and model. 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 Arnecia (Bradley) Williams (Miss Black Alabama USA 2007) – US Army Engineer, Actress, and Motivational Speaker 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) actress, model, brand ambassador, host www.theashleymarie.com Melba M. Furlow (Miss Black Florida USA 1996) – Former Christian Radio Talk show host, author, college professor, & former student of Iyanla Vanzanthttp://www.floridafamilynetwork.com/melba-furlow-herringtonhttp://www.jaxpubliclibrary.org/sites/default/files/Biography-Vertical-Files-List-Dec2014.pdf Daphne Marcelle Lee (Miss Black New Jersey USA 2017) Professional Ballerina, Activist, Model, Brown Girls Do Ballet, MFA Hollins University, BFA Ailey/Fordham University, www.daphnemlee.com Yasha Clark (Miss Black Louisiana USA 2019) Personal Injury Attorney, Model, Author www.justcallyasha.com Justine Baker (Miss Black Washington USA 2024) – Journalist, Television Personality, Author Jillian Patricia Pirtle (Miss Black Pennsylvania USA 2011) – soprano, historian, and CEO of the Marian Anderson Museum and Historical Society Myya Jones (Miss Black Michigan USA 2023) – international philanthropist, politician, and founder of Do Good Detroit and Do Good Nigeria Elizabeth Ann James (Miss Black Michigan USA 2024) – Breast Cancer Researcher, philanthropist, influencer, and model
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