A space to empower Black American women

A Washington State University Ph.D. student and entrepreneur always dreamed of being a pageant queen, but didn’t know it would one day become a reality.

Ashley Wells was named Miss Black Washington USA 2023, adding to her robust and ever-growing list of achievements. Holding two master’s degrees in creative writing and American studies, and co-founder of the nonprofit The Prosp(a)rity Project, the 26-year-old is full of drive.

But this isn’t a stopping point for Wells. In fact, it’s just the beginning.

Born in Long Island, N.Y., Wells grew up looking to her parents as idols.

“I will say, my parents have been incredible inspirations for me my entire life,” Wells said. “They came from the Caribbean and just worked themselves up from the bottom. It really instilled in me how important hard work and education is to move forward and not give up.”

Her dream is to one day become an associate dean at an institution, and she is paving the way toward a future full of higher education. Wells graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in English literature in 2018 from Binghamton University, and moved on to receiving her graduate degrees. She graduated in 2020 from Dartmouth College with a Master of Arts in creative writing, and she graduated from Columbia University in 2022 with a Master of Arts in American studies.

“(When) I decided to go into American studies, that was the first time that I was able to take any sort of Ethnic studies classes,” Wells said. “I really fell in love with just being able to do concrete research on Black women. … I was really excited at the idea of putting a focus on Black women in order to elevate all of us in the community.”

Wells recently became a Ph.D. student in American studies at WSU. Her work revolves around Black American women and mental health disparities. She said she enjoys the conglomeration of many fields incorporated in American studies, including history, literature and ethnic studies.

Amid her studies, Wells said she had a mini quarter-life crisis after she turned 25.

“I was kind of trying to figure out, OK, where am I?” Wells said. “I’ve been doing school my whole life, I never really took a break from that. I kind of just sat down with myself and asked, what do I want to do before I get a little bit older? I kept thinking about this, and I really always wanted to do a pageant. But, I just never had the opportunity to.”

She submitted her application to Miss Black USA, and organizers liked her essay. She became a finalist and was chosen to represent the state of Washington.

Miss Black USA is the first and largest scholarship pageant for women of color, Wells said. The organization awards more than $500,000 in scholarships annually to women all around the nation.

“The organization was developed at a time when most pageant systems weren’t as widespread in terms of accepting Black women and being able to wear their hair naturally, or just be able to exist as a fully-fledged Black woman,” Wells said. “It really empowers Black women to just be able to take up space and be who they are without feeling as though they need to make themselves smaller in order to compete.”

Wells said it feels great to be named Miss Black Washington, and she’s excited to be a part of the organization and a pageant in general. She was able to find a space where she felt comfortable and admired in her own skin.

On top of spending her time in higher education and pageantry, Wells is a co-founder of the nonprofit Prosp(a)rity Project. She developed the organization in 2020 with a vision to improve the economic mobility of college-educated Black women.

“Black women have the highest proportion of student loan debt in the entire country, and are also one of the most educated groups of women in the entire country,” Wells said. “I think making sure that Black women are able to navigate the student loan debt crisis and also rise above it and thrive in their daily lives is going to help the Black community.”

Her organization provides retroactive scholarships for student debt relief, as well as a yearlong program on financial literacy training for award beneficiaries.

“We do this to help move Black American women forward to financial freedom and success,” Wells said. “We wanted to create a better platform and program for Black women to be able to get themselves out of that debt.”

In the meantime, Wells will warm up her singing voice before competing in Miss Black USA nationals. She will continue to study at WSU before moving on to the next milestone.

To learn more about Miss Black USA Organization, visit their website at missblackusa.org. To learn more about the Prosp(a)rity Project, view their website at theprosperityproject.org.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.