Tag: Black Women

Former Miss Teen USA runner-up Gloria Almonte claimed that a 15-year-old Raven-Symoné, who served as a celebrity judge for the 2001 pageant, approached her after the show to brag about voting for her over the eventual Black winner, Marissa Whitley.

In 2013, Monique Rodriguez was eight months pregnant when she knew something was wrong. The labor and delivery nurse understood the warning signs well. When she suffered a uterine rupture, she repeatedly tried to tell the doctors caring for her that something did not feel right. Still, Rodriguez says, she wasn't heard in time. Her son, Milan, died. More than a decade later, Rodriguez, who went on to found the successful hair care company Mielle Organics, is turning one of the most painful experiences of her life into a $2 million commitment to BirthFUND, the maternal-health organization founded by journalist and author Elaine Welteroth that supports midwifery.

As the 2026 Miss USA Pageant prepares to crown its next winner, we wanted to take a look back at all the gorgeous and talented Black women who have won the title over the years. From notable names like Kenya Moore and Deshauna Barber to a few you may have never heard of, these women truly brought beauty, brains and some much-needed melanin to the annual pageant.

For nearly four years, Keshia Golden maintained she was not a murderer but a pregnant woman trying to survive an attack by an abusive partner. On Monday, Golden pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the 2022 stabbing death of her boyfriend, Calvin Sidney. The plea deal brings her case to an end without the first-degree murder conviction prosecutors were seeking. Golden was eight months pregnant when Sidney was fatally stabbed after their baby shower in October 2022. Her attorneys said Sidney attacked her, slamming her head against a counter, and she grabbed a knife to protect herself and her unborn child. Police had responded to more than fifty domestic violence calls from the couple's address.

There is no sterile white gallery wall separating the art from everyday life. Instead, imagine walking through bedrooms in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, encountering work by Black women artists in rooms devoted to themes such as protection, nurturing, memory and water. Curated by Jade Flint and artist Taylor Thomas, and presented by Long Gallery Harlem, A House Is Not a Home brings together 25 Black women artists to examine America's 250-year history through the women whose labor, care and creativity helped build it.

Marcus Scribner, the former Black-ish child star, has officially tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart Gracie Globerman in a romantic Los Angeles dinner-party wedding at the restaurant République, featured by Vogue.