Greenwood’s Ashley Griffin made it to the Top 12 and was the winner of the Community Service Ambassador scholarship award at the 2018 Miss Black USA pageant.
“It’s an honor,” said Griffin. “For me to win that community service award on a national platform is pretty awesome.”
On Sunday, Griffin was one of 22 contestants competing for the title of Miss Black USA at the UDC Theater of Arts on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. They competed in the categories of talent, on-stage interview, evening gown and fitness.
The winner was Kelsi Horn of Michigan.
Griffin’s community service platform was “Don’t Forget Those Who Can’t Remember,” which focuses on Alzheimer’s disease awareness and raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Association.
She worked with the Mississippi Alzheimer’s Association and helped to raise funds and organize the Mississippi Delta Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
“It’s been five years since my grandfather passed away from Alzheimer’s, and now being able to educate people and bring awareness to this disease has been amazing and humbling,” Griffin said.
Griffin is a senior at Delta State University, where she is studying biology and chemistry. The daughter of Annette Griffin of Greenwood, she graduated from Pillow Academy in 2015.
Griffin was named a Mississippi INBRE (IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence) scholar and interned over the summer at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
She is a former Greenwood Miss Hospitality and was selected as a Top 10 contestant at the state pageant in Hattiesburg.
Griffin said she has enjoyed this experience of competing in the Miss Black USA pageant.
“I am really happy that I was able to go through this pageant system,” she said. “You hear about it being a true sisterhood, but going through this experience and actually seeing how we encouraged each other was amazing. It was the icing on the cake.”
Griffin will continue her reign as Miss Black Mississippi and will crown the new titleholder at the state pageant on Oct. 21 at Jackson State University.
Kyla Cole of Greenwood now holds Griffin’s former title, Miss Black Leflore County, and will compete at the pageant.
•Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
