“It’s bigger than the pageant,” Austin Pageant Officer Tanisha Barnett said, referring to its scholarship and mentor program. “We say it’s the inner beauty pageant because we work on self, self-awareness, self-love, self-image, and being confident. You make them feel enough.”

-The Austin Chronicle

Pageants are a growing trend in celebrating the #Juneteenth holiday. Tanisha Barnett, the Central Texas pageant director for the Miss Juneteenth Scholarship Pageant says the pageants are a way to educate young black women about their history and celebrate their unique beauty.

-BNC New LIVE

Austyn Bufford, right, 11, gives a speech at the Juneteenth celebration at Lake Pflugerville Park on Saturday June 20, 2020. The daylong event featured speakers, dancers, vendors, activities for children, and a food truck.

-Austin American Statesmen

Kennedé Wallace, the 2019 Miss Juneteenth for Austin, Texas, earlier this month. “You never know when you’re going to have to put your crown on and be the queen of the moment, she said. “It gives you all the light, and you have to be prepared for that.”

-The New York Times

A pageant this weekend celebrating cultural diversity and individuality will crown the winner as Miss Juneteenth a little more than a week before the state holiday honoring the end of slavery in the U.S.

-KXAN News

A pageant with purpose, the Miss Juneteenth Austin Scholarship Pageant fosters education, community, and sisterhood. This year's winners: Miss Juneteenth Kennede Wallace, and Junior Miss Juneteenth Jazmine Hill-Pounders are here to tell us how their reign will serve the community and celebrate culture.

-CBS Austin