Miss USA 2020 Winner: Who's Asya Branch from Mississippi? Here's how she overcame tough childhood to win pageants
We have a new Miss USA. The Miss USA 2020 crown has been bestowed upon Miss Mississippi USA Asya Branch. The 22-year-old won the coveted title on Monday, November 9, in a competition that aired live from Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. She was crowned by her predecessor, Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst.
People reports that the second runner-up was Miss Oklahoma USA Mariah Jane Davis, and the first runner-up, Miss Idaho USA Kim Layne. Branch is the first African-American to be named Miss Mississippi USA and hails from Booneville. Before winning the title, she shared her views on gun laws in her final statement. She said, as quoted by People, "We should require people to pass training and safety classes" before attaining guns.
This year’s winner was chosen by a panel that included Fox Nation host Abby Hornacek, entrepreneur Gloria Mayfield Banks, sports reporter and Miss USA 1999 Kimberly Pressler, businesswoman Susan Yara, Miss USA 2000 Lynnette Cole and CEO of It’s a 10 Haircare and Be A 10 Cosmetics Carolyn Aronson.
Who is Asya Branch?
According to Pageant Planet, Branch was born in Michigan and in 2003 her family relocated to Booneville, Mississippi. After her high school graduation, she started attending the University of Mississippi. After acquiring her Bachelor’s degree, she wants to pursue a Juris Doctorate of Law. While attending the University, Branch has been the recipient of Academic Excel Scholarship and named a Mississippi Scholar Honor Graduate.
She had a tough childhood. Her father has been incarcerated over half her life. Her own struggles inspired her platform, Empowering Children of Incarcerated Parents. In 2018, she had told Clarion Ledger, “My father's been incarcerated half of my life, and it was tough, extremely tough. Going through school, being judged. Society wants to judge the children of incarcerated parents, it's shameful, it's blameful, 'Oh look what they did ... '. But it's out of my control. I didn't do it, I didn't ask for this, and I prayed so hard, 'God why is this happening?'” She also said, “My platform has helped me to meet so many incredible individuals and I've heard so many empowering and inspiring stories that I've been able to reference in my daily life.” She also credited her mother as her inspiration. She said, “Every step of this path has been truly incredible and my mom's been with me through it all.”
Initially, she wanted to compete in the Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen Pageant. However, she missed the deadline. So, she entered into the Miss circuit in 2016 and won a local title, Miss Historic Crossroads, after placing in her first local. She then went to compete at the Miss Mississippi 2016 Pageant. While she fell short of making it to the Top 10, she did win a Preliminary Swimsuit Award. He tried again in 2017 and was placed fourth runner up at Miss Mississippi 2017.
Again, in 2018, she wanted to try her luck and competed as Miss Tupelo 2018. She was crowned Miss Mississippi 2018. In 2019, Branch won the Miss Mississippi USA 2020 title and progressed to the Miss USA 2020 stage. And, we know what happened after that.