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Miss Black America Pageant Returns to Atlantic City for 55th Anniversary Celebration

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The Miss Black America Pageant is coming back to Atlantic City to celebrate its 55th anniversary. It will be held on the Boardwalk on Saturday, December 16th. The return to the city where the “Historic Protest Pageant of 1968” took place has generated considerable anticipation among many.
The post Miss Black America Pageant Returns to Atlantic City for 55th Anniversary Celebration first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

1 year ago

November 28, 2023

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The Miss Black America Pageant is coming back to Atlantic City to celebrate its 55th anniversary. It will be held on the Boardwalk on Saturday, December 16th. The return to the city where the “Historic Protest Pageant of 1968” took place has generated considerable anticipation among many. As announced, a captivating parade and a series of exciting festivities are guaranteed as the prelude to the grand main event at the renowned Showboat Atlantic Hotel.

J. Morris Anderson, an individual who performed at the forefront of his time, established the Miss Black America Pageant, and made a lasting impact as the founder of the “American Institute of Positivity.” “The Seeds of Positivity,” the term “Positivity,” and the “Success Seekers Seminars” hosted by the institute are all works Anderson authored. His influence transcends the pageant, as does his vision, which surpasses the conventional. Aleta Anderson, Morris’s daughter, stated that it’s critical to recognize the differences between the Miss Black America Pageant and a Black Miss America pageant. “I’ve been working with this pageant since I was a little girl,” Anderson declared. “The thing that it originally was meant is still there, and it means so much more in that it provides an opportunity for the young women to participate.”

Established in 1968, the organization carved its path, boasting a syndicated television network to showcase Black women’s often-overlooked beauty, talent, and intelligence in mainstream pageants. “Miss Black America was always a pageant of access,” Anderson told the Black Press. “It wasn’t a beauty pageant, but a story of Black beauty, and of confidence, and self-esteem. And it continues to be a part of our learning process as we now have all these platforms of exposure.”

Saundra Williams, a college student from Philadelphia, made history as the first Miss Black America. She used her platform to showcase an enchanting traditional African dance and to challenge the long-standing exclusion of Black women from the Miss America pageant. “Miss America does not represent us because there has never been a black girl in the pageant,” Williams once stated. In 1970, Cheryl Browne became the first black Miss America contestant, and Vanessa Williams secured the historic title in 1983. Over 50 distinguished women will compete for the Miss Black America title this year, joining the ranks of past champions such as Oprah Winfrey, Toni Braxton, Bern Nadette Stanis, and Nicole Hibbert. Anderson underscored the pageant’s lasting relevance as a symbol of hope for young women. The pageant was originally created to celebrate Black beauty, confidence, and self-esteem. Now it has become a platform for challenging traditional ideas of beauty and providing needed exposure.

Anderson emphasized the pageant’s diversity, which transcended social, economic, and educational limitations. She described the Miss Black America Pageant as a national and global event that has shaped American history since 1968. “We have so many young women in the pageant and just because it’s the Miss Black America pageant doesn’t mean it isn’t diverse,” Anderson argued. “The diversity exceeds socio-economic status, and our education because the way we are educated is different. Every woman who has participated is vested and becomes a lifelong participant and we have so many coming back to Atlantic City to pay homage.”

The first-ever senior Miss Black America will be crowned, Anderson believes, marking a historic event that will give the competition a new dimension. She promised to commemorate J. Morris Anderson’s devotion to Black women by keeping the pageant going forward as a legacy program. “I want everyone to walk away with the feeling that anything is possible and that they have the support and a window of opportunity,” Anderson stated. “It doesn’t start in Atlantic City, it starts before. Getting there and showing up, being highly motivated, and having a feeling of going into this that they are now a part of something that provides an experience that elevates the rest of their lives.”

The post Miss Black America Pageant Returns to Atlantic City for 55th Anniversary Celebration first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

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Fighting to Keep Blackness

BlackPressUSA NEWSWIRE — Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 7, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

As this nation observes the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, the words of President Trump reverberate. “This country will be WOKE no longer”, an emboldened Trump offered during his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Since then, Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter this morning that “Elon Musk and his DOGE bros have ordered GSA to sell off the site of the historic Freedom Riders Museum in Montgomery.” Her post of little words went on to say, “This is outrageous and we will not let it stand! I am demanding an immediate reversal. Our civil rights history is not for sale!” DOGE trying to sell Freedom Rider Museum

Also, in the news today, the Associated Press is reporting they have a file of names and descriptions of more than 26,000 military images flagged for removal because of connections to women, minorities, culture, or DEI. In more attempts to downplay Blackness, a word that is interchanged with woke, Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C. Mayor Morial Bowser is allowing the name change to keep millions of federal dollars flowing there. Black Lives Matter Plaza was named in 2020 after a tense exchange between President Trump and George Floyd protesters in front of the White House. There are more reports about cuts to equity initiatives that impact HBCU students. Programs that recruited top HBCU students into the military and the pipeline for Department of Defense contracts have been canceled.

Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing back against this second-term Trump administration’s anti-DEI and Anti-woke message. In the wake of the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, several Congressional Black Caucus leaders are reintroducing the Voting Rights Act. South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn and Alabama Congresswoman Terry Sewell are sponsoring H.R. 14, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Six decades ago, Lewis was hit with a billy club by police as he marched for the right to vote for African Americans. The right for Black people to vote became law with the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has since been gutted, leaving the nation to vote without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Reflecting on the late Congressman Lewis, March 1, 2020, a few months before his death, Lewis said, “We need more than ever in these times many more someones to make good trouble- to make their own dent in the wall of injustice.”

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Rep. Al Green is Censured by The U.S. House After Protesting Trump on Medicaid

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

In one of the quickest punishments of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the modern era, Congressman Al Green (D-TX) was censured by a 224-198 vote today in the House. His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question. Of the last three censures of members of the U.S. House, two have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus under GOP control. In 2023, Rep. Jamal Bowman was censured.

On the night of March 4, as President Trump delivered a Joint Address to Congress, Rep. Green interrupted him twice. Rep. Green shouted, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicare, and you need to raise the cap on social security,” to President Trump. In another rare event, Rep. Green was escorted off the House floor by security shortly after yelling at the President by order of GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson. Over the last four years, members of Congress have yelled at President Biden during the State of the Union. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor-Greene was joined by Republican Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-CO) in 2022 in yelling at President Biden. In 2023, Rep. Greene, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) yelled at Biden, interrupting his speech. In 2024, wearing a red MAGA hat, a violation of the rules of the U.S. House, Greene interrupted Biden again. She was never censured for her behavior. Rep. Green voted “present” on his censure and was joined by freshman Democrat Congressman Shomari Figures of Alabama who also voted “present”.

All other members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against censuring Green. Republicans hold a four-seat advantage in the U.S. House after the death of Texas Democrat and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner yesterday. Ten Democrats voted along with Republicans to censure Rep. Green, including Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who is in the leadership as the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I respect them but, I would do it again,” and “it is a matter of conscience,” Rep. Green told Black Press USA’s April Ryan in an exclusive interview on March 5. After the vote, a group of Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” in the well at the front of the House chamber. Several Republican members attempted to shout down the singing. House Speaker Mike Johnson gaveled the House out of session and into a recess. During the brief recess members moved back to their seats and out of the well of the House. Shortly after the vote to censor Rep. Green, Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee quickly filed legislation to punish members who participated in the singing of “We Shall Overcome.” Earlier this year, Rep. Ogles filed legislation to allow President Donald Trump to serve a third term, which is currently unconstitutional. As the debate started, the stock market dove down over one-point hours from close. The jobs report will be made public tomorrow.

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Trump Moves to Dismantle Education Department

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The Trump administration is preparing to issue an executive order directing newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the Department of Education. While the president lacks the authority to unilaterally shut down the agency—requiring congressional approval—McMahon has been tasked with taking “all necessary steps” to reduce its role “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” The administration justifies the move by claiming the department has spent over $1 trillion since its 1979 founding without improving student achievement. However, data from The Nation’s Report Card shows math scores have improved significantly since the 1990s, though reading levels have remained stagnant. The pandemic further widened achievement gaps, leaving many students behind.

The Education Department provides about 10% of public-school funding, primarily targeting low-income students, rural districts, and children with disabilities. A recent Data for Progress poll found that 61% of voters oppose Trump’s efforts to abolish the agency, while just 34% support it. In Washington, D.C., where student proficiency rates remain low—22% in math and 34% in English—federal funding is crucial. Serenity Brooker, an elementary education major, warned that cutting the department would worsen conditions in underfunded schools.

“D.C. testing scores aren’t very high right now, so cutting the Department of Education isn’t going to help that at all,” she told Hilltop News. A report from the Education Trust found that low-income schools in D.C. receive $2,200 less per student than wealthier districts, leading to shortages in essential classroom materials. The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students.

The Office for Civil Rights also plays a key role in enforcing laws that protect students from discrimination. Moving it to the Department of Justice, as proposed in Project 2025, would make it harder for families to file complaints, leaving vulnerable students with fewer protections. Federal student aid programs, including Pell Grants and loan repayment plans, could face disruption if the department is dismantled. Experts warn this could worsen the student debt crisis, pushing more borrowers into default. “With funding cuts, they don’t have the materials they need, like books or things to help with math,” Brooker said. “It makes learning less fun for them.”