Header image for October Miss Black Kentucky story.

Dr. Ashley Anderson Wants to Uplift Women and Girls with the Miss Black Kentucky USA Scholarship Pageant.

Written by Dr. Ashley Anderson | Photo by Kylene White

About a month after I filed for divorce, I found myself standing in the mirror staring at someone I didn’t recognize. My eyes looked tired. My skin looked dull. It was like the entire situation had begun to suck the vibrancy from my soul. I was disgusted — not because the marriage was ending but because I’d sacrificed myself. I’d spent so much time and energy trying to figure out how to make him happy that I’d placed my needs, wants, and dreams to the side. Every plan I had somehow involved an “us” that could be no longer.

At that moment in the mirror, I made a decision. I decided to get realigned with my purpose and start building. I knew I needed to structure and rebrand my healthcare business. I knew I needed to keep growing my essential oil business. Overall, I knew I needed to maintain a substantial income to provide the life my boys deserved. As I shed the dead skin, I knew I also needed to use my platform to serve.

The message in the mess was loud and clear. I’d often been complimented on the grace and class with which I was handling my situation. I had to pause and think about where I learned that. The confidence to stand with strength and be resilient enough to fight for what I want while my world was crashing down around me, was not something I was born with. It was a learned skill. In the process of healing myself, I realized I wanted to build other women up as well.

In Ghana, the title of “Queen Mother” is one of great authority and responsibility. It denotes a woman who has achieved a high rank or status within her community and thus is responsible for designating the next in line. The Queen Mother provides counsel and training to those who are “up next,” and rallies women in the community to monitor the social standards of the society in which they live.

This year, I launched the Queen Mother Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit foundation devoted to empowering, cultivating, uplifting, and inspiring women, girls, and families in Louisville, Kentucky, and beyond. The goal is to encourage people to develop their natural abilities and equip them with the tools to pursue their dreams audaciously. The Queen Mother Foundation fulfills its mission through girls’ and women’s empowerment programs, scholarship funding, fundraising events, community uplift, and educational opportunities.

My first mission is to intentionally uplift and empower Black women and girls in Kentucky. I have said many times over the years that every girl should do at least one pageant in her life. I say that because just one opportunity to hit that interview room and stage will change you. I believe in using the training and experience of pageantry to propel participants to the next level in their lives, no matter their future goals. Pageantry is a vehicle to mentor young women and build sustainable networks that will impact the community for many years to come.

Pageantry took a quiet, ashamed, and unpolished girl from 18th and Hill Street and transformed her into the woman you see today. Pageantry changed my life and its trajectory. It allowed me the opportunity to create a different standard for my future, it challenged and put me under pressure until I was polished and refined … a diamond ready to shine. Beyond this, pageantry helped me offset the cost of my education. At each level, I earned scholarships that I used to push toward my dreams. In essence, pageants are a female empowerment-self-improvement-mentoring-networking opportunity all wrapped up in one.

In America, still in 2022, a Black woman is not considered the standard of beauty. In mainstream pageantry, we’re often told or feel like we must tone down or assimilate in order to be successful. After watching and working in this environment for over two decades, I knew that something different was necessary. I wanted to create a space to empower Black women, but I also wanted to create a space where they can be unapologetically themselves and have their beauty and talents that may seem unconventional to others, honored and appreciated. We needed a safe space for Black women and girls to be who they are, to be trained for excellence, and to earn scholarship money in the process.

With the 2022 Miss Black Kentucky USA Scholarship Pageant 15 women and girls will compete in three age divisions, Teen (Ages 13-18), Miss (ages 19 –27) and Ms. (ages 28-45). One contestant in each age division will be selected to represent Kentucky at the historic Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant in Washington DC next summer.

2022 Miss Black Kentucky USA

Here are the amazing women and girls who will be competing at the Memorial Auditorium on October 7th – 9th.

Detail image of Pageant contestants for Miss Black Kentucky story.

I invite you to attend the competition. Also, please consider sponsoring with cash scholarship donations and/or in-kind donating.  Join me in supporting the current and next generation of Black women across Kentucky.