By Thomas Cathey | Special to The OBSERVER
Last year, Sacramento’s Jessica McCall won the title of “Ms. Black USA” and has been using her platform to advocate for better legal justice and health for those in the Black community. A lot of time was spent getting ready for the competition and McCall was delighted to hear her name called as the winner.
“I worked over two years preparing for the Ms. Black USA competition and I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into preparing,” McCall said. “So when I went to competition and heard my title, California, called as the next Ms. Black USA, it was like a dream come true and especially an honor because I’m the first Californian to ever be crowned as Ms. Black USA. And that’s across all age groups.”
McCall’s path to the Ms. Black USA title began in high school when she was looking for a way to earn scholarship money for college. In fact, she was the first in her family to pursue higher education. But when McCall learned more about how pageantry could make a positive impact on her community, she stuck with it and became more involved.
“One thing that I’d like to highlight is that pageantry isn’t all about modeling. It’s about a platform, making a change in the community and identifying an issue that you’re passionate about and being an advocate for that,” McCall said. “When I was crowned Ms. Black Sacramento in 2006 and I learned about the community aspects, I fell in love with pageantry because I could be a voice for my community and make a positive change.”
McCall’s passion for serving those in her community originated well before pageantry, as she began taking an interest in law school as a youth. McCall was raised in a low-income family that couldn’t have afforded an attorney, so she made it her mission to become one to advocate for families like hers.
“I always felt that justice should not cost money. We shouldn’t have to have a certain amount of income in order to afford adequate legal advocacy,” McCall said.
She graduated from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, passed the California State bar exam in 2013 and has practiced law since. Her longtime mentor Charlene Johnson said McCall always has been driven and a woman of her word.
“She’s determined to make herself be the best version of herself, the highest expression of herself. So she does the work to do it,” Johnson said.
Aside from her diligent work in law, McCall focuses on health and wellness for those in the Black community, Black women in particular. In addition to hosting educational seminars, she has released an e-book, “Living Purposefully: Empowering Black Women to Live Healthy and Whole,” in which she details different methods and techniques for Black women, or women in general, to live long and healthy lives. McCall has experienced the loss of family, friends and mentors to potentially preventable diseases and that was her primary motivation to write the book.
“After witnessing all of this loss, I became frustrated and I developed a passion in me to find out why,” McCall explained. “Why were people in the Black community dying? Why were women, in particular, in the Black community dying of these similar causes?”
Last year, Johnson featured McCall on her podcast, “When the Moment Chooses You.” McCall discusses her experiences with improving her physical health, as well as her experiences in law and pageantry. The pair met when McCall attended a church where Johnson was ministering, and Johnson developed a deep admiration for McCall, her undeniable faith and her ability to lead by example.
“She’s just very passionate and loves God, and she makes sure everyone knows he’s the reason for her success,” Johnson said. “[The work she’s doing] is really phenomenal because of her age and how youthful she is, and the fact that she is an example of what she teaches. A lot of younger women are really looking up to her and they listen to her.”