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I competed in beauty contests. I would never have imagined this milestone

2019-12-11T20:37:56.965Z


“It gives me the chills to think about beauty pageants. I would never enroll my daughter (if I had her) in a beauty pageant, ”says columnist Roxanne Jones, who participated in several…


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Editor's note: Roxanne Jones, founding editor of ESPN Magazine and former ESPN president, has served as a producer, reporter and editor at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jones is co-author of "Say it Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete". Talk about politics, sports and culture weekly at Philadelphia's 900AM WURD. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author.

(CNN) - Beauty contests are bestial

Ask any woman (off the stage and where no one hears, of course) who has appeared in a contest. You will not hear any of those "I am so happy to be here" nonsense. Nor will you see tears of joy and hugs for the woman who just took the crown. Nothing of that.

I know after having survived, and sometimes won, titles in the circuit of adolescent beauty contests in New England. An idea of ​​my mother, not mine.

A single mother with three children to raise and a mortgage to pay, enrolled in any contest that mentioned the words "scholarship" and "money." I even got to dance the waltz at a presentation party in society one year, and I must admit that the experience was much more fun. Anything was better than jumping in a swimsuit on stage. Even in the 80s, I knew that my appearance should have little to do with my being able to go to college.

However, I persisted in the attempt.

  • For the first time, Miss Universe, Miss United States, Miss America and Miss Teen USA are all black women

To this day I feel totally ashamed of how I went out in a contest, when I remember how I dragged my artist easel on the stage and realized that I was painting a new work of art. Talent competition was always my problem: painting and writing were my best talents. They still are.

So when all the other girls did somersaults, sang and performed graceful plies on stage as first dancers, I sat on a bench imitating Picasso, or recited a scene from the acclaimed play by Ntozake Shange “The girls of color who they have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enough. ” It didn't matter that I was the only “girl of color” on stage reciting in front of a mostly white audience. I was hoping that my unique talents would be rewarded. But it was also realistic. I focused on academics and did not take the life of beauty pageants very seriously. Clearly, I wasn't going to get to the title of "Miss America," or even college, with my paintings.

So when I see a woman like Zozibini Tunzi, Miss South Africa, who at 26 is the first black woman in the country to win the Miss Universe contest, I understand that her journey required much more than false smiles and socially conscious comments.

Zozi, as the South Africans proudly call her, was raised by parents who are educators. She is a member of the Xhosa tribe and seems to understand the impact that her crown can have on others. “I defend the education of South African youth, equality and representation. As Miss South Africa, I can't wait to make a contribution to these important social causes, ”he told Sowetan Live when he was crowned as Miss South Africa.

  • "It's not fun": Steve Harvey unleashes outrage over his "joke" about Colombia in Miss Universe

But Tunzi's triumph is significant for other reasons for those who follow beauty pageants and for beauty queens that look like me. Black women are reigning in several major competitions: Miss USA (Cheslie Kryst), Miss America (Nia Franklin), Miss Teen USA (Kaliegh Garris), and now Miss Universe (Zozibini Tunzi). I could not have imagined it while parading down the catwalks trying to stand out there by the 80s.

Luckily, those days have passed when only black women who looked like Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America in 1983, were considered worthy of the crown. Despite his immense talent, coppery skin, long hair, Williams' light blue eyes are not representative of most women in the black community. But I won't lie to you, my black neighborhood celebrated when Williams won. And we protested when the crown was removed in what we thought was a fabricated sex scandal.

  • Miss Universe celebrates its first openly gay contestant

But, deep inside I also felt betrayed by Williams' triumph, by all the "colorism." While at that time I did not have sophisticated words to describe the discrimination that people with darker skin experienced in the black community, I realized that my "afro" super-curly, my thick lips and my milk chocolate skin were very far from the beauty standard of Vanessa Williams.

Today, I get chills thinking about beauty pageants. I would never enroll my daughter (if I had one) in a beauty contest, because now there are many better ways to instill confidence in young women and better opportunities to win college scholarships. Even so, I am excited to see that discrimination based on skin tone is appeased as representations of black beauty are increasingly included. Today's beauty queens represent all the dark shades and some walk boldly with their natural short afros, as Miss Universe did.

Mom was always right. Maybe she knew the lessons that I learned.

Those beauty pageants were exactly what this lanky girl, a little brave needed at that time. Those contests taught me to define my beauty and my talent on my own terms, regardless of how others judged me. I learned to go with my head up in the great moments of life.

So, I honor all the black queens of beauty that exist in all shapes, sizes and shades, whether or not they wear a crown. I greet you I see them. And it's time for the rest of the world to see them too.

- Translation of Mariana Campos

Source: cnnespanol

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