Little Miss African American Crowned
Queen and Princess at the 2025 Scholarship Pageant
L-R: Photo: Paityn McElhannon, Queen of the 2025 Little Miss African American, and
Lauren Lawson, Princess of the Little Miss African American.
Photo Credit: Andre David Charles, C-Level Media Group
—Lisa Ruffin, Founder of the 31st Annual Little Miss African American Scholarship Pageant, and the judges were proud to announce Paityn McElhannon as Queen and Lauren Lawson as Princess of this year’s Pageant.
Special guest, Zaya Campbell, Little Miss African American 2024 and daughter of is the daughter of Grammy-winner singer Erica Campbell, who is part of the gospel group Mary Mary, and music producer Warryn Campbell, gave up her crown and was presented with Community Service Awards..
The educational pageant was held recently at Barnsdall Art Park to a packed audience. Lisa Ruffin pulled all the stops out for the 31st Anniversary of the Little Miss African-American Scholarship Pageant. The star-studded event increases the confidence of little African-American girls from across the country.
Celebrities, Community Leaders, and Influencers, donate their time to serve as judges or hosts. Erica Gimpel (God Friended Me); and Elia Cantu (Days of Our Lives) were this years’ hosts. Judges included Actor James Pickens, Jr. (Grey’s Anatomy); Journalist Michelle Fisher of KABC7 Los Angeles, actress/writer Loren Lott (The Young and the Restless); and actor Aaron Jennings (Dexter: Original Sin); Ingrid Hadley, Principal & Chief Possibilities Officer;Doll Designer & Creator Stacy McBride-Irby; actor Jazmine Robinson (Family Business); Reparatory Justice Scholar & Attorney Kamilah Moore, and Phillip V. Westbrooks.
It was exciting to see Elainna Smith who was a contestant in 1993 perform the LMAA’s Famous African Dance with her daughter who was a contestant this year.
This year, the winners were chosen in two categories; a Queen was crowned for contestants in the 10-12 age group, and a Princess was crowned for ages 6-9 years old. In the Queen category, Khoi Murphy was the 1st runner-up, Jadine Patrick, the 2nd runner-up, and Aalaija Quigless was the 3rd runner-up. While in the Princess category, Alyse Harmon was the 1st runner-up, Billie Warren was the 2nd runner-up, and Satorie Wright was the 3rd runner-up.
Hundreds of scholarships have been awarded, and lasting memories have been created for these young Academic and intellectual princesses. While some of them come from strong, supportive families, the majority of them come from under-served, single-family homes. The pageant provides an early introduction to the arts and training in public speaking while promoting individual creativity and stimulating a heightened cultural understanding.
LMAA’s core guideline is “Confidence, Awareness, and Pride”. Through personal funds combined with the efforts and the help of incredible friends and,they would not let these girls down and now hope to help create some incredible lasting memories for these young ladies. The pageant awarded over $10,000 in scholarships and prizes every year.
Councilwoman Heather Hutt for District 10 and Councilwoman Nithya Raman for District 4 helped to support LMAA scholarship pageant. Councilwoman Hutt and Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas gave Community Service Awards to the Community Service Award winners, Gene Hale with the Hale Foundation was a supporter.
For additional information visit our website at www.littlemissafricanamerican.org
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Facebook – Little Miss African American
Posted by Mahalia Saint-Eloi.
