Former dance instructor now first Black woman to be crowned Miss Milwaukee

Jada Davis was crowned Miss Milwaukee 2022 on Saturday, making her the first Black woman to hold the title of Miss Milwaukee. The 23-year-old Milwaukee resident attends Marquette University Law School and is working toward her Juris Doctorate.

Before getting involved in pageantry late last year, she was doing a lot for her community as a law clerk and former dance instructor for the Boys & Girls Clubs. She has also volunteered for many organizations including Milwaukee Justice Center, Marquette Volunteer Law Clinic, YWCA, Unity Gospel House of Prayer, and Black Youth Alliance.

Davis joined the Miss Milwaukee pageant two weeks before the competition and was among eight candidates in the event that was held virtually for the first time on Saturday, March 19.

Davis receives a $700 scholarship as a winner of the competition. She also won the top talent award, after performing a contemporary fusion dance piece to “Dear Black Girl” by Candace Nicholas. She earns an additional $100 scholarship for winning that award.

She now heads to the Miss Wisconsin Competition in Oshkosh in June, which is a state preliminary to the Miss America Competition.

During Davis’ year of service as Miss Milwaukee, she will make appearances throughout the community and promote her personal social impact initiative – “What’s Wrong With Being Confident?”— which is focused on building self-confidence and positive body image among youth, a statement by Miss Wisconsin Organization said.

“She will continue her work to bridge the gap between generations to create a space for people to share their own confidence-building experiences,” the statement added.

“Essentially I want to bring different generations together and have conversations about how we can build our confidence,” Davis said.

The young student was in dance classes all her life growing up, she said. Now known as “The Dancing Lawyer,” she hopes to practice as an entertainment lawyer to prove to everyone that arts and education can exist side by side.