And I will be crowned your 2015 Miss Black and Gold

It is the time of the year we all know and love, pageant season. Some may think pageants are just an excuse for women to spend tons of money to be pretty and to answer every answer with “world peace,” but here at SU the Miss Black and Gold pageant is more than being a pretty face in a dress.

The Miss Black and Gold pageant is an annual event done by the Delta Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.

The pageant grants collegiate women the opportunity to compete in a professional pageant. It provides each participant a treasured experience in performing before large crowds, creating bonds with other pageant contestants and networking with the community.

Each participant competes in several categories ranging from attire to artistic performance.

The Miss Black and Gold Pageant, a national program under the sponsorship of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., is an outgrowth of the long tradition of Alpha Chapters celebrating the academic excellence and talent of women.

This year’s pageant has six amazing women running for a chance to be crowned the new Miss B&G.

The contestants are: Michelle Foulkes, Melissa Ortega, Shaylah Nichols, Miracle Rodgers, Nardos Zecarias, and Quameiha Anna Raymond-Ducheine.

I was able to ask all six lovely women: What does winning Miss Black and Gold mean to you? and, Why should you win?

Michelle Foulkes

What does winning Miss Black and Gold mean to you?

To be quite honest, apart from winning, just being able to have this experience overall has meant more than I can put into words to me.

One thing that is always en-grained in our minds and hearts every time we come together, is to always bring our confidence and personality.

I remember one of our coaches/sister queens helping me with my intro and she demonstrated how she would emphasize certain parts and I was blown away.

She always said “I can help you with your walk, the words, your poses…but I can’t teach you confidence. That has to come from within you”.

This experience has shown me how first of all, I need to be a more confident person in general, how hard it is to have absolute confidence in yourself sometimes but how extremely imperative it is to build and always maintain that confidence despite how hard it may seem.

In a nutshell, Miss Black and Gold means to me facing my fears, it means not coming, but blasting out of my shell with a new sense of self, a brand new type of confidence, and a love for everything that I am.

Why should you win?

I’m never the type to suggest that I am better than anybody else. I am a very personable person and always ensure I’m easy to talk to.

To be an effective Miss Black and Gold, the woman has to be understanding, relatable, warm, passionate, strong, encouraging and uplifting, cultured, unique, fun and yet very serious at the same time.

I chose these qualities not because they all define me, but because when I think of the five other women I’m sharing this experience with, those are some of the qualities that come to mind that we all invoke in each other.

If I win Miss Black and Gold, I’ll have a stronger platform to make an impact on lives and a louder voice to be heard by all those listening.

Whether I win or not isn’t my focus, because not even at the end of the day, but at the beginning of the day we all are phenomenal women standing for the same thing; fighting for the same thing.

So, with that said, whoever wins, when she wins, we all would have won.

Melissa Ortega

What does winning Miss Black and Gold mean to you? 
“If I were to win Miss Black and Gold it would be an incredible honor. Winning would mean more than just a title for me.

The pageant is about empowering women which is the main reason I decided to try out for the pageant. I have dedicated the past few years of life to empowering others, especially women.

As an Afro-Latina I am proud of my roots, roots I didn’t always feel empowered by but have learned to embrace and feel strengthened from.

I have put time and dedication into each section of the pageant to transmit this message to the audience.

Winning Miss Black and Gold does not mean winning the crown, I will walk out a winner knowing I always aim and hopefully am able to motivate and empower others.”

Why should you win?

“I believe I should win Miss Black and Gold because I represent the woman who wouldn’t normally enter a pageant.

As an Afro-Latina, I am constantly hyper sexualized and fetishist after.

As a Posse scholar, most folks assume I am a brain. As a shorter woman, I am assumed to be weaker or less able. Coming from Miami, most think I’m a party-goer.

People often ascribe labels to me that occasionally I may represent but I am so much more.

It took some convincing to wonder if I qualified for this and now I understand not only am I qualified but I represent the college woman, a girl figuring herself out in a world that thinks they know her.

If I win, every woman does including my competitors.”

Shaylah Nichols

What does winning Miss Black and Gold mean to you?

So for me, winning is the least significant aspect of the pageant.

Obviously I would be so honored and humbled to win, but it’s been such an honor to be a contestant in general.

I just see this as an opportunity to get up there and do my thing with my sisters. I’d be equally as happy for any of my sister queens if they were chosen as Miss Black and Gold.

I love the people I’ve met and become so close to since I’ve become a part of the event, I love that I have this amazing opportunity to show the community what I’ve got, but most importantly I love what the pageant stands for.

Why should you win?

I’ve never been one of those girls that hates on another girl just because she was prettier than me; strong women lift each other up. They do not degrade, they do not discourage, and they do not stifle. They support, they empower, and they encourage.

I will always take any opportunity to empower another woman.

So that’s why I’m here; I’m not here to show people what I can do or to show them how good I look in a formal dress.

I’m a B&G contestant so I can support the other B&G contestants, encourage the rest of the queens of SU to be the best that they can be, and also to empower myself.

If I can stand on stage and emulate how I’ve grown thus far just by being a contestant, then I will still be a winner.

Miracle Rogers

What does winning Miss Black and Gold mean to you? 

Becoming Miss Black and Gold means the world to me.

Miss Black and Gold isn’t like traditional Pageants. This Pageant was created to raise money for scholarships for seniors which is very important to me.

If I did not receive scholarships I wouldn’t even be here at Syracuse University. It is imperative to give back.

The Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. chose contestants that are brilliant, talented and confident.

Winning Miss Black and Gold would allow me to give back to high school students in a beautiful way.

Why should you win?

All of the contestants are absolutely beautiful inside and out, but I believe I should be crowned Miss Black and Gold because I know that me winning would not be about myself.

I would be a vessel and be able to use my gifts to reach more women and encourage them follow their dreams and encourage them to be the Queen that they were made to be.

I would also reassure more High School students to pursue a higher education. Adding possibility where it seems impossible for some students to attend and graduate from college.

Nardos Zecarias

What does winning Miss Black and Gold mean to you? 

Winning Miss Black and Gold would mean I passed the course that is offered nationwide titled, “Understand Your Ability 101.”

It would teach me that I am capable of stepping out of the rainbow and conquering the colors that don’t always shine after it pours.

I often hear people say rainy weather makes them want to sit on a couch and watch movies or daydream, but I never understood that because I don’t believe you should just sit around and wait for the rainbow to arrive.

Don’t just dream in the day, but dream at night, dream when the clouds come out, dream to make the sun come out – make it happen.

Winning the title would mean taking a leap toward identifying my purpose in this universe, nevertheless, it would also mean that I am capable of so much more.

It’s not necessarily the different catwalks that will help me win this competition, rather more the mentality that I walk onto that runway with.

Why should you win?

I should win because believing I shouldn’t is never an option.

I do not define winning by a trophy, a crown, and/or a money reward for my body is a trophy, I wear an invisible crown daily, and money does not make humans look good, humans make money look good.

Regardless of the name the judges call on October 31st, every woman who steps on that stage will be a winner walking off because they believed in themselves and they attracted an audience who believed in them.

I have plans for the future that I believe will spread love worldwide. Winning Black and Gold would be the extra motivational boost in my energy drink that will encourage me to keep hustling.

Lord knows how hard it is to come across a night free of homework, work, and meetings and how easy it is to occupy it by watching TV shows until sunrise.

I should win because by the grace of God and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. I have been given the opportunity to do so and quite frankly, I want to give people a reason to look forward to sunrise.

Quameiha Anna Raymond-Ducheine

What does winning Miss Black and Gold mean to you?

This pageant has become an outlet through which I can reflect on the journey I have taken with my mother.

Being crowned the 2015 Miss Black and Gold would mean that I have internalized the many lessons she imparted onto me.

Why should you win?

I deserve the title of Miss Black and Gold because my reasons for participating are true.

For me this competition extends beyond a crown, I am using the various components of the pageant to explore the ways my identity has changed in the last year.

Receiving the title would represent the culmination of both internal and external exploration and discovery.

Well there you have it, you now have a closer look to what these ladies are about. Make sure you get your ticket to the Miss Black & Gold event for October 31, 2015 to see who will be crowned you new Miss 2015 Black and Gold.