Red, White, Blue.............and Black

Congratulations are in order for Osas Ighodaro.   This Connecticut beauty was recently crowned the new Miss Black USA 2010 !!!!  

The 2010 pageant was held at the historic Lincoln Theater on U Street NW, otherwise known as Black Broadway, in Washington, DC on Monday, August 9th.   Throughout the week, 33 beautiful and talented women competed in personal interview, physical fitness, talent, evening gown and question/answer divisions.  A slate of 15 finalists and ultimately a top 5 was presented to the audience prior to the announcement of the new Miss Black USA.

The Miss Black USA Pageant, according to its website, is a non-profit organization committed to providing educational opportunities to outstanding young women of color and to develop the "whole woman mind, body, and spirit.  Founded in 1986, the pageant recently partnered with Dr. Ian Smith and the 50 million Pound Challenge to help fight obesity in the African -American Community.

Osas, a talented actress, is a graduate of Penn State University possessing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism.  She is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts degree at Pace University's Actors Studio Drama School.    As a first generation American of her Nigerian family, her acting talents have already been exhibited in such films as "Cadillac Records", "Notorious" and "My African Uncle", I won't be surprised to see Osas in a motion picture feature role any time soon.  She's also graced the small screen with roles in such series as "Law & Order" and "Conviction".
 

Her talent in this year's competition was a monologue and her platform was "Youth Development through the Arts, Education& Culture: Empowering, Enriching, Enlightening & Encouraging our light of the future - Our Youth!  As Miss Black USA 2010, she will spend the next year promoting her platform, issues of awareness and the Miss Black USA organization throughout the country. You can see an clip of Osas discussing her recent win in DC here.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to judge the Miss Black North Carolina USA pageant and it was a wonderful experience.  It is such a pleasure to see such talented and intelligent women competing so vigorously.  I am glad to see the tradition and excellent caliber of women has continued.