(CBS DETROIT) – From mayoral candidate to Miss Black Michigan, 28-year-old Myya Jones is making her mark in pageants and politics.
“I’m very involved in civic engagement and social action,” Jones said. “Everything I do here in Detroit is centered around my community.”
Jones is a Detroit native. She’s a two-time mayoral candidate, she’s run for State Rep., she spits bars, and she’s also this year’s Miss Black Michigan.
“I wanted to break barriers,” Jones said. “So, I entered pageantry as my full Black woman self with my natural hair. I didn’t change up anything, and it was one of the most invigorating experiences I’ve had.”
From pageantry to philanthropy, Jones founded Do Good Detroit, a nonprofit that engages young people in the electoral process while fostering community.
“We want to make sure that young people really know what it means to be involved in your community and how policy impacts that,” Jones said.
Over the weekend, Jones represented the state in this year’s Miss Black USA pageant, the first and largest scholarship pageant for women of color. It was founded in 1986 to help Black women fund degrees in higher education while disrupting European beauty standards deeply embedded in pageantry.
“It is the Black of Black pageants. It is who we are, what we embody,” Jones said.
And, over the years, the pageantry space has evolved. History was made in 2019 when four Black women took home the titles of Miss USA, Miss America, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe, marking the first time Black women won four major pageant titles in the same year.
Although Jones didn’t take home the crown Sunday, she says her weekend in Washington, D.C., ignited her passion to positively impact her city and the people living in it.
