The Miss Black America Pageant will return to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to celebrate its 55th anniversary. It will be held on the Boardwalk at the Showboat Hotel on Saturday, Dec. 16, and retraces its roots to the city where the “Historic Protest Pageant of 1968” took place.
J. Morris Anderson, a Philadelphia entrepreneur, 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.
“After meeting with civic leaders across the U.S., we are thrilled to bring Miss Black America back to where it all started,” Anderson, the event’s senior executive producer, said in a statement.
Aleta Anderson, Morris’ daughter, emphasized the differences between the Miss Black America Pageant and the Black Miss America pageant.
“I’ve been working with this pageant since I was a little girl,” Aleta Anderson said. “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.
“Miss Black America was always a pageant of access. 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.”
Gabrielle Wilson, the reigning Miss Black America. (Photo credit: Miss Black America Pageant)
Saundra Williams, a college student from Philadelphia, made history as the first Miss Black America on Sept. 7, 1968, at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlantic City. 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 said, before Cheryl Browne became the first Black Miss America contestant in 1970, and well before Vanessa Williams secured the historic title in 1983. The Miss America formerly codified racism, and its seventh rule stipulated that contestants must be “of the White race.”
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 said. “The diversity exceeds socioeconomic 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 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 said. “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.”
