By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
A dozen Beauty Queens sashayed into Galveston for the 3rd Annual, National Miss Juneteenth Pageant. Each one of the young ladies had won a regional title as Miss Juneteenth in her hometown.
This was the first year the pageant was held in Galveston, the birthplace of Juneteenth.
In the order as they appear in the collage starting with the top row: Marina Fennell from Colorado Springs, Co, Madison Elizabeth Corzine from Dallas-Fort Worth, Camille Douglas from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Grace Glass from Louise, Illinois, Trinity Evans from Wilmington, Delaware, Zoie Banks from Galveston, Jade Gordon from Tampa Bay, Florida, Micha Webster-Bass from Jacksonville, Florida, Damaris Jones from Coons Rapids, Minnesota, Fatima Brotherson Erriche from Portland, Oregon, De’Asia Williams from Northeast Texas, and Megan Elyse Hicks from Jackson Tennessee.
Zoie Banks, who was born in Galveston and graduated from Dickinson High School, represented Galveston in the Pageant. She is a dedicated member of Macedonia Baptist Church where she volunteers her time with younger children. She is also a freshman at Prairie View A&M working towards becoming a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.
“I can’t believe I’m in the pageant, I feel like I’m still a little girl watching the Juneteenth parades in Galveston. I’m proud to be able to share the story of Juneteenth with other young people,” Banks shared.
The young ladies enjoyed a couple of days of learning more about the history of Juneteenth under the directorship of Sam Collins III. They toured the prominent historic buildings and locations along the Juneteenth trail and learned of some of the significant contributions made by African American individuals.
Saturday was a day of rehearsal, team building exercises and a bit of anxiety as they prepared for the grand evening event. They came prepared with their talent performances, and their introductory script which was read by C. Sade Turnipseed, who served as the evening’s emcee.
Each young lady was affirmed as a queen regardless of who won the evening’s pageant by the many people who attended and addressed the audience. The pageant is an opportunity for young ladies to build their poise and delve deeper into the history of their ancestors.
“This has been very important in showing me more about what my ancestors lived through,” said Jade Gordon of Tampa, Fla. Jade is only 15 and was the youngest competitor. Her talent was an interpretive dance/gymnastic performance that included a double reversal back flip.
All queens submitted an essay and three took home prizes for their outstanding writing skills. Miss Damaris from Minnesota won third place. Miss Micah of Jacksonville, Fl. took second. First place went to Miss Grace of Illinois.
In the end there can be only one who is crowned as queen of a beauty pageant and that title went to Miss Madison Corzine of Dallas Fort-Worth. First runner up was from Jacksonville Florida, Miss Micha Webster-Bass . Third runner up and winner of Miss Congeniality was Miss Megan Elyse Hicks from Jackson, Tenn.
The young ladies received traditional beauty queen awards such as sashes, crowns, trophies, flowers, plaques, and academic scholarships.
