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 BIOGRAPHY
Celi
Marie Dean
2005/2006
Miss Black USA
My
name is Celi Marie Dean (see-lee), and I know
without a doubt I was born to make a difference.
In May of 1985 I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At birth I was diagnosed with a rare blood disease
called sepsis. Without a blood transfusion I would
have died. My desire to live and persevere was
present even then at such a young age. I am the
namesake of my grandmother from my father's side
who is originally from Liberia (West Africa).
At the age of 7, I experienced my first emotional
challenge when my mother and father divorced.
With every obstacle there is always a rainbow
at the end of the road. During that period of
my life, we moved around a lot, changed schools
several times, yet at age 8 I went on to win my
first pageant (1993 Miss Minnesota Princess).
It was then that I met the 1993 Miss Black Minnesota
USA and knew I wanted to be the future Miss Black
Minnesota USA. My life has not been the same since.
I
continued doing pageants over the years and have
been blessed to win other titles such as the 1996
Miss Pre-teen Minnesota, 2000 Miss Jr.Teen Minnesota,
and 2004 Miss Teen Minnesota International. My
dream was made a reality in 2005 when I was crowned
Miss Black Minnesota USA. And the dream became
a bigger one when I was crowned your 2005/2006
Miss Black USA this past August! I competed against
23 extraordinary young women on August 7th at
the Warner Theatre in Washington DC. The entertainment
for the evening was Rueben Studdard (American
Idol) and the celebrity judges included Genuine
and Tommy Davidson. Along with the title I won
a $5,000.00 scholarship a trip to the Bahamas
and a contract with Color Me Beautiful-Flori Roberts
Cosmetics. I also won a trip anywhere in the world
for raising the most money for the Children's
Miracle Network. The girls voted for me as Miss
Congeniality which was very special because it
came from them. Pageants have opened many doors
for me to reach out to my community, and it has
helped to build my confidence and poise. In addition,
my current title has helped me to improve upon
my interviewing skills, as I have had the pleasure
of doing several radio, Television and magazine
interviews. During this time I have had several
opportunities to publicly promote the positive
impact in which pageantry can make in a young
persons life; refuting the negative stereo-types.
Like all things there has to be balance. I have
had the opportunity to be a Judge at a couple
local pageants as well as talent contests and
I was able to experience what it was like to be
on the other side. Pageantry isn't my life; it
is merely an enhancement to my life, and an opportunity
to fulfill my goals and aspirations. Not to mention
the additional perks such as scholarship monies
needed in order to complete my education, along
with an array of gifts and prizes. Pageantry helps
me to keep busy and remain focus on the things,
which are important; family, goals, values, community
and helping those less fortunate. These are the
principles in which I was raised. I was brought
up going to church and continue to be active today.
I've had the opportunity of going into nursing
homes, doing street ministry, being a Christian
camp counselor and singing in the choir.
My mother, with whom I share the same birth date,
has always encouraged me to be an activist in
our community. Hence, I have volunteered over
the years for places such as Ronald McDonald House,
Children's Hospital, The Maplewood Good Samaritan
Nursing Home, Dorothy Day Shelter, The Children's
Crisis Center, Y'Tutor's, Y'Partners Fund Raiser,
SISTAH's, Women of Heart Disease, Camp Good News
Christian Camp, Special Olympics, Diabetes Foundation
and many area's of the YMCA such as Family Nights,
Teen Night's, Black Achievers, and Holloween at
the YMCA. One of my greatest accomplishments to
date is my partnership with Wal-Mart and Children's
Miracle Network, in which we raised over 1 million
dollars for Minnesota's Gillette Children's Hospital
along with helping raise over $2,000.00 and collecting
a semi-truck load of items for the Hurricane Katrina
Victims. I truly believe in the spirit of enhancing
my community, and those in which I come in contact
with daily. I have been involved with the YMCA
for the past 5 years. I started out as a volunteer
and eventually worked for them as a Lifeguard,
Dance Instructor and Lead Childcare worker. I
was active in many of their youth groups such
as Youth in Government, Black Achievers Youth
Group, and Leadership Club. I was the President
of the Black Achievers, Honorary Youth Chairperson,
Vice President of the Black Achievers Advisory
Board and named the 2001 Youth of the Year. The
YMCA has played a major part in my life and I
continue to volunteer there and am a spokes model
for them. I will take all that I have learned
through the experiences of pageantry and community
serves to be a counselor/academic advisor in schools
and colleges. I will use my summers to work at
my own camp for young African-American men and
women to come together and learn more about their
culture, create sister/brotherhood and the importance
of pursuing their education.
I started modeling at the age of 8 and had training
with Premiere Modeling School and Caryn's International.
I have done print & runway for companies such
as Target, Dayton's, XZ Fashion's, Lavien's Fashions,
Fashion Bug, Women of Today, the Red Dress (Women
of Heart Disease), American Girl Doll's and was
a model for the Mall of America Teen Fashion Board.
I also tired my hand at a little acting/theatre
in school and participated in several plays. One
of my most enjoyable memories came when I was
an extra in the movie Jingle All The Way with
Arnold Swartzenegger & Sinbad. I had the honor
of walking the red carpet at the 2006 NAACP Image
Awards in February and will be taking part in
a movie in August. These are just a couple of
the many things that I am doing with my new title.
In addition to modeling and acting, I enjoy dancing.
I danced for Larkin Dance Studio. Combining dance
and community service I became a dance instructor
at the YMCA for youth ages 4-17. Although I enjoy
all of this, my greatest passion is writing poetry.
I have spent the last four years compiling my
works and my goal is to one day publish my personal
book of poetry. One of my writing pieces I love
the most is a poem in which I have written about
my life as a young black woman with which I shared
as my talent in the Miss Black USA and continue
to perform frequently.
I am a graduate from Hill Murray High School,
a private-college prep school in Minnesota. While
in High School, I was involved in dance, lettered
in cheerleading and track while still maintaining
my grades and remaining an honor student. My matriculation
has led me to the University of Minnesota, in
which I am currently a sophomore on the Dean's
list. My major is Family Social Science. My pursuit
of excellence is because I want to set an example
for my younger siblings, as well as other youth,
on the importance of getting an education. Two
quotes I strongly believe in are: W.E.B Dubois;
"The way for blacks to rise socially an economically
is through education" and Malcolm X; "Education
is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs
to the people who prepare for it today!".
In order to do this I have chosen Education, "A
Degree of Importance" for my platform as
the Miss Black USA. This requires me to travel
to local/national schools and attend many events
within the community and worldwide as well as
television and radio appearance in order to promote
this platform. My mother and I have also created
an Essay Contest, 'Queen for the Day', for African
American girls in grades 9-12. The winner of the
essay contest will be crowned "Black Academic
Princess". For each contestant we hope to
promote self esteem letting them know they are
a queen no matter what, while at the same time,
emphasizing the importance and the seriousness
of having a good education. I am also currently
mentoring a group of young African American girls
ages 13-18. Over the past two years, I have seen
them flourish and grow, as we have built a bond
and a sisterhood that was not present in the beginning.
Believing
in me, trusting in God and family support has
been the foundation to my success. My mother and
father have been there for me from the beginning
and although I am a busy young woman, my family
and friends remain my number one priority. I love
surrounding myself with my family and making them
smile. I am fortunate to have roots that stem
back to Liberia (Africa) and I am blessed to say
that I recently was invited by the President of
Gambia to attend their 41st Independence Celebration
and the experience was an incredible/life changing
one. I am proud to say that I represented the
USA well. I look forward to traveling to Africa
a few more times in the near future! All of the
struggles I have faced in my life have contributed
to giving me the strength, drive and passion that
I have for life. I don't take anything for granted,
and I aspire to live in the moment daily. Watching
the birth of my little sister Shannaka at the
age of 13 showed me how precious life is. I give
God all the glory and use the blessings He has
given me to help others. My mantra is: "To
the world you may be one person, but to one person
you may be the world". This is why I continue
to reach out to our youth and I know that I am
making a difference. I am extremely proud to be
your 2005 Miss Black USA and to be part of a terrific
pageant system that not only represents young,
beautiful, black women, inside & out but also
provides scholarship opportunities. Together we
are letting the love of God shine!
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