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The new National Miss Juneteenth Pageant has its first winner. And she's from Delaware.

Ryan Cormier
Delaware News Journal

A national contest with a Delawarean making history?

No, we're not talking about a possible outcome of the presidential race in less than two weeks.

We're talking about something that already happened.

The first National Miss Juneteenth Pageant was held in Memphis, Tennessee, last weekend and Delaware's own Saniya Gay won the title.

Middletown High School student Saniya Gay won the inaugural National Miss Juneteenth Pageant in Memphis, Tennessee on Saturday.

Gay, a 17-year-old Middletown High School student and reigning Delaware Miss Juneteenth, won the startup pageant by beating finalists Las Vegas Miss Juneteenth and Tampa Bay Miss Juneteenth, sparking a chain reaction of emotions.

Gay was open-mouthed and speechless ("I was like, whoa!") standing on stage Saturday with a new crown atop her head in the Westin Memphis Beale Street ballroom.

Not far away was her mother Veda, who admits she lost all control when her daughter won the pageant, hosted by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.

"I was shocked. I had every emotion. I cried. I laughed. I ran around the room," Veda Gay says. "I can't even explain it."

FLASHBACK:Celebrations and protests will mark a unique Juneteenth for Delaware

In a year when fights against social injustice brought new attention to the holiday, along with a new critically acclaimed film ("Miss Juneteenth" starring Nicole Beharie), it's fitting that 2020 is also when the National Miss Juneteenth Pageant was launched.

Saniya Gay of Middletown, who won the title of National Miss Juneteenth last weekend, on Market Street in Wilmington.

And with the First State as its first winner, Gay's win warmed the hearts of those who helped found the Delaware Juneteenth Association 26 years ago.

"It cemented the fact that all of our hard work paid off," says the still-celebrating association co-founder, President Sylvia Lewis-Harris. "I don't think we'll have any problem recruiting this year."

Association co-founder and Treasurer Sandy Clark adds, "She's in the history books. She's the first national queen. I feel like it was meant to be. Even the pandemic couldn't stop it."

Middletown's Saniya Gay, winner of the first National Miss Juneteenth Pageant, with her parents Veda and Ty Gay.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Liberation Day, is celebrated June 19 commemorating the day in 1865 when the Emancipation Proclamation was read in Galveston, Texas, announcing all slaves in the state were free.

It came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the proclamation, which had formally freed the slaves in rebellious states. Many slave owners didn't comply and enforcement was slow to reach Texas.

Miss Juneteenth Saniya Gay of Middletown at the former Lorraine Motel, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The motel was the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968.

Local Miss Juneteenth pageants are held across the country each year with students vying for college scholarships. They are not contests focused on beauty. Instead the focus is all about empowerment, history, community service and honoring Black culture.

The Delaware Miss Juneteenth Pageant, usually held at the baby grand in Wilmington, has been held for 23 years, administered by the Delaware Juneteenth Association. It draws about 10 to 12 contestants vying for a $2,000 prize toward the college of their choice.

Gay, a ballet dancer whose platform was dedicated to fighting domestic abuse, hopes to be a student at either Delaware State University, Howard University or North Carolina A&T State University next year. Her national win earned her $2,500 in additional scholarship money.

With all that experience hosting pageants, Delaware's Juneteenth officials have now helped about 15 other states set up their own Miss Juneteenth pageants this year, a movement spawned in part by growing interest in the holiday. 

Middletown's Saniya Gay and Delaware Juneteenth Association President Sylvia Lewis-Harris after being crowned National Miss Juneteenth in Memphis, Tennessee last weekend.

"They had never run a pageant before, so they had no idea," says Lewis-Harris, now also a member of the national pageant committee.

Lewis-Harris and Clark are among those pushing to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Following social justice protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, several states designated or announced plans to make Juneteenth a state holiday, including Virginia, New Jersey and New York. 

In Delaware, Gov. John Carney closed state offices June 19 in honor of Juneteenth and said he would work with the General Assembly to make it a permanent state holiday.

More:Juneteenth brings message of hope, optimism for Wilmington community

Lewis-Harris envisions a national holiday being pushed from the White House if former Vice President Biden beats President Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election. And with that would come more recognition for both the local and national Juneteenth pageants.

With COVID-19 concerns front and center, only Lewis-Harris, along with Gay's mother and grandmother, escorted her to the pageant.

Middletown's Saniya Gay won the first National Miss Juneteenth Pageant in Memphis, Tennessee over the weekend.

"We were a small contingent, but we were powerful," Lewis-Harris says.

For Gay, the experience has been a whirlwind — especially considering she wasn't very familiar with Juneteenth holiday or the pageants when she first got involved last year.

"When I was little, I told my mom that I would never want to do pageants," Gay says. "And now look at me."

Got a tip? Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).