'Black girl magic at its finest': Juneteenth pageants let women, girls be unapologetically Black

WILMINGTON, Del. — Backstage at a downtown hotel, Saniya Gay, the reigning Delaware Miss Juneteenth, is holding court among a sea of sequins and the smell of hot curling irons.

Gay, who was crowned the first National Miss Juneteenth last year, offers advice to the nine girls, ages 8 to 17, who are about to take the stage for the 2021 Delaware Juneteenth Family Enrichment Program and Pageant — one of whom she will crown as her successor.