Caressa Venal Cameron-Jackson (born August 4, 1987) is an American beauty pageant titleholder and occasional singer who was

Miss Virginia The Miss Virginia competition is a scholarship pageant for women, with the titleholder representing Virginia in the Miss America pageant. The competition was founded in 1953 as a scholarship contest for young women, although women had represente ...

2009 and

Miss America 2010 Miss America 2010, the 83rd Miss America pageant, was held on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada at the Theatre for the Performing Arts of Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on Saturday, January 30, 2010. Miss America 2009, Katie Stam from ...

. She is the eighth

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Miss America titleholder, the first Black Miss Virginia to be crowned Miss America.

Early life and education

The Virginia native is a graduate of Massaponax High School and

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

. In 2002, Cameron graduated from Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in Virginia.

Pageantry

Miss Virginia Teen USA 2005

Cameron placed second runner-up to

Tori Hall Victoria Marie Hall (born December 20, 1986) is an American beauty queen and reality television personality from Midlothian, Virginia who competed in Miss Teen USA 2005, placing in the Top 10, and Miss USA 2008. She is also known for being part of ...

at the

Miss Virginia Teen USA The Miss Virginia Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Virginia in the Miss Teen USA pageant. Virginia is one of the more successful states at Miss Teen USA, and is placed in the top twenty in te ...

2005 pageant.

Miss Virginia USA 2006

She was second runner-up to Amber Copley at the

Miss Virginia USA The Miss Virginia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Virginia in the Miss USA pageant. Virginia has been only moderately successful in terms of number of semi-finalists. They have had two Miss USA ...

2006 pageant.

Miss Virginia 2006-2008

She was placed second runner-up in the 2006 and 2007

pageants. At the 2008 competition, Cameron was named first runner-up. Due to this placement, Cameron qualified to compete in the

National Sweetheart Miss National Sweetheart is a United States beauty pageant created in 1941 where runners-up from the Miss America state pageants are invited to Hoopeston, Illinois to compete for the title of Miss National Sweetheart, and the name of the title held ...

2008 pageant, where Miss Virginia later was named the fourth runner-up.

Miss Virginia 2009

Cameron was crowned

on June 28, 2009, winning on her fourth attempt.

Miss America 2010

On January 27, 2010, the performer won a $2,000

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

in succeeding the preliminary talent competition in vocal pop. On January 30, 2010, Cameron won the

pageant held at

Planet Hollywood Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet Hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a themed restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl Ent ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Miss America role

She traveled more than 250,000 miles during her year of service advocating for her personal platform, "Real Talk: AIDS in America" and spoke to over 80,000 students around the nation about healthy choices. For her efforts, Caressa was the recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award and a Congressional Honor. The titleholder performed during the Presidential Inauguration festivities in 2009, the 2010 White House Christmas Tree lighting, and more.

Personal life

Cameron married her high school sweetheart, Nathaniel Jackson Jr., on December 2, 2012. Cameron wore a Sareh Nouri wedding gown. The couple welcomed their first child, Tres, on June 27, 2016. They welcomed their second child and first daughter, Cammie, on January 27, 2020. The family reside in

Locust Grove, Virginia Locust Grove is an unincorporated community in eastern Orange County, Virginia, United States. Its ZIP code is 22508, the population of the ZIP Code Tabulation Area was 7,605 at the time of the 2000 census and increased by 60% to 12,696 ...

References

Video clips

"Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron sings God Bless America" video
Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron sings "God Bless America" at the Independence Day Parade in Philadelphia on July 4, 2010.

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Caressa Living people Miss America 2010 delegates Miss America winners People from Fredericksburg, Virginia American beauty pageant winners Miss America Preliminary Talent winners Virginia Commonwealth University alumni Miss Virginia winners 1987 births African-American beauty pageant winners 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people