Mississippi’s Asya Branch Is the New Miss USA

When Branch took the title of Miss Mississippi in 2018, she became the first Black woman to do so. She also represents another first—bringing the state its first Miss USA crown. “I'm grateful to have been able to make history twice throughout my reign and am excited to be representing the country,” she tells Glamour. “You don't have to look like the person that came before you to accomplish a goal. Anything is attainable.”

Moving quickly, Branch will relocate to New York as she prepares to represent the United States in the upcoming Miss Universe pageant. “It may take me a little while to transition from Mississippi's pace to New York's pace, but I'm ready for it!”

She’s a Southern belle at heart.

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Branch was born in Detroit, but moved with her family to Booneville, Mississippi, in 2003 before started kindergarten. According to the Miss USA website, she was 17 when she left the state of Mississippi for the first time solo to attend summer school at Harvard University.

“I was enrolled in two for-credit courses. One was public speaking and the other was psychology and law,” she says. “I definitely learned so much from those courses, and from the people—being surrounded by so many cultures that I had never been exposed to really opened my eyes to how much broader the world is just outside of Mississippi.”

Branch was also very athletic throughout high school—she ran track and field, was a member of the dance team, and served as the cocaptain of the Booneville High cheer squad.

After high school Branch went on to major in integrated marketing communications, with an emphasis in public relations and a minor in general business at the University of Mississippi.