August 14, 2011
Rising Above Torturous Teasing, Miss Black USA Now Vows to Help Others
By Nickei Bent
Rising above a life of teasing, Ocielia Gibson of Texas is crowned Miss Black USA. Courtesy photo.
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Don’t be fooled by her outer beauty. Behind the sparkling crown and beautiful evening gown is a woman who has overcome low self-esteem and being teased almost every day.
Texas native, Ocielia Gibson, 26, has had almost every bad word in the book thrown at her because of the hives she gets on her skin that doctors have not diagnosed.
“They called me leopard, spotted-bodied girl, alligator skin and ugly,” said Gibson.
As does thousands of school-aged children every day, Gibson's self-esteem suffered from the teasing. “Because I was made fun of, it really impacted how I felt about myself and how beautiful I felt, and I didn’t even go to senior prom because of those issues,” Gibson said.
“I had to not allow all the negative self-thought to overcome me and I had to believe in myself,” Gibson said in an interview.
Despite her past pains, Gibson was crowned winner in the Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant 2011 on Aug. 9 from amidst dozens of other beautiful and talented young women. She is now able to tell how she overcame the painful teasing in order to excel.
“I had to truly believe that even though I had those physical flaws, regardless of that, I was a beautiful woman,” she said. “I had to make the decision to [either] keep wallowing in that self-pity or to just hold my head high and be the best that I can be even with those physical flaws”.
At 19 years old Gibson entered the Miss Black Texas 2009 pageant. It was her dream to use Miss Black Texas as a stepping stone to get her to the Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant. On her first try, Gibson did not take home the title, and placed second runner-up. Determined to win, she re-entered Miss Black Texas in 2009, however, she was disappointed once more when she placed second runner-up.
Deciding to confront her fears head-on and not be deterred, Gibson decided to enter the competition for the third time.
“It’s easy to get down on yourself to criticize yourself when competing, but when those thoughts would come, I had to immediately just forget them, I had to decide and say no I am going to believe in myself,” she said. “It was not my season.”
Gibson said she had to dig deep to enter the Miss Black Texas Pageant once more. She entered again in 2010 and won. Finally, Gibson had gotten what she had worked hard for and in turn got over her lack of self-esteem. She was almost there.
“I had to surpass my fears”, she said.
After being crowned Miss Black Texas 2010, Gibson went on to enter Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant 2011 in Washington DC’s historic Lincoln Theater.
The Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant and Scholarship Foundation, Inc. was founded by life coach, author and philanthropist Karen Arrington in 1986. The competition promotes education and leadership by providing scholarships opportunities to its winners.
“I was attracted to Miss Black USA because it celebrates Black women and displays who you are inside,” Gibson said.
The theme of this year’s pageant was “Shades of Africa” celebrating the diversity of Black women in America. The competition was fierce as the final 29 women from across the U. S. competed for more than $20,000 in scholarships and prizes. The final contestants were narrowed to 16.
Gibson wowed the judges and the crowd after she displayed her piano skills. However, what brought her over the top and to victory was her answer to the question on improving the high school graduation and college entry rates of African-Americans.
To answer the question, Gibson drew on her platform, one which was very near and dear to her heart. It was one of the reasons she fought so hard to win Miss Black Texas - her ministry to young women.
“A lot of our kids need mentorship and tutoring from other successful African-Americans that they can look up to,” Gibson answered. “So a key way to improve the graduation rate and the college entry rate is for people just like us to come back and give back to them, to show them the way, to guide them and to help them.”
As a sophomore in college, Gibson received her calling from God, a calling to minister to young women. She is now pursuing a Master of Divinity with a concentration in women's ministry from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She also has her own website, www.Ocielia.org.
“I stepped out on my dream to empower teen girls by founding More Than a Pretty Face Inc.,” she said. The faith-based outreach program targets urban women, initially, an after-school mentoring program for at-risk girls. It focuses on defining true beauty, abstaining from sex and developing leadership skills. To date, More Than a Pretty Face Inc.,” has spread to more than a thousand young women throughout Texas and Arkansas.
Gibson still suffers from the undiagnosed skin condition, but has vowed to not let it interrupt her mission and tarnish her sense of self.
“True beauty is appealing to all the senses,” she said. “True beauty is an all-encompassing beauty. It’s in the words that you speak. It is also with the smell of your attitude.”
Gibson described her win as “the icing on the cake”, and hopes to use her reign as Miss Black USA to spread her ministry to young women across America.
“I want my legacy to be one of empowering the young because that is a passion of mine and a passion of the Miss Black USA organization so it just perfectly meshes together,” said Gibson. “I really hope to be remembered as the queen who used her crown and her influence to champion the cause of our young African-American sisters and to uplift them and to guide them.”