The Miss America Pageant recently crowned it’s newest winner, Nia Franklin. Franklin represented New York and became New York’s 7th Miss America Winner.
At the age of 25, she has accomplished more than one can imagine. Franklin is a classically trained opera singer, as seen in the talent portion of the competition, and a composer. She was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and attended East Carolina University, earning an undergraduate degree in composition. She continued her education and received a Master’s in Fine Arts at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. A little while after receiving her Master’s, she was awarded a Kenan Fellowship at New York’s Lincoln Center Education and moved to New York. She, currently, lives in Brooklyn.
Franklin began pageantry with the Miss America Organization during her freshman year of college. Looking for ways to help fund her education, she entered a pageant. She says the organization and pageants have begun to mean more to her than just scholarship money. At the age of 23, was crowned Miss Five Boroughs. Following this win, she earned the title of Miss New York in the first half of 2018 and Miss America 2019 on September 9, 2018.
Franklin plans to be an advocate for the arts during her reign as Miss America. She has written over 100 songs, one being a song she began to write at the age of five. As a music teacher and also a music mentor, she uses her talents to help others the way she says music helped her find her identity as a child. She spoke about how coming from predominantly white school, she felt out of place because of her skin. Through it all, she credits music in helping her feel positive about herself.
Nia Franklin’s story is a very inspiring one and shows how unfortunate circumstances can be turned into successes. She is a perfect example of turning lemons into lemonade.