02/09/2017
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By Susan Johnes | September 1, 2017
Talk of physical setbacks, financial constraints, striving to maintain preternatural beauty & notoriety, and not forgetting to find decent attires to fit the occasion. Those are some of the challenges faced by miss world beauty and being crowned the 49th Miss Black America is a significant achievement that deserves credit.
Well, one star Brittany Lewis, A Jersey native, has internalized the demand to be picture-perfect in the world of modeling.
According to the Philadelphia Tribune, The Temple University graduate has a long list of accolades. Currently, she is a third-year Ph.D. student at George Washington University.
Besides, she is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Additionally, Lewis was part of the National Council of Negro Women as an undergrad. She also leads a pro-black initiative called “Returning to our Roots Liberation Through Education.”
The interesting aspect of Lewis is that she entered the pageant not for money or the title, but for the scholarship. Lewis told Philly.com that competing was part of her research.
Lewis is currently studying 20th century United States history. Her focus is primarily on women and urban history, and how both relate to black history.
Her dissertation revolves around Atlantic City from 1964 to the mid-1980s with her research investigating how casinos shaped the city during that time, and the effect it had on pageants.
In 1968, Atlanta City held the first Miss Black America pageant. Designer J. Morris Anderson created the event to protest the Miss America pageant’s rule number seven, which restricted woman of color from competing.
Lewis gained further interest to focus on that year because a group of feminists gathered outside the Miss America pageant to protest it. But just three years later, a young woman by the Oprah Winfrey was crowned the fourth Miss Black America.
Lewis’ research interests peppered her time in front of the judges. While on stage, she performed her dance to a remix of “Stomp to My Beat” that incorporated audio from a Nina Simone interview.
Lewis, who was crowned Miss Delaware in 2014, is now the new Miss Black America. According to her, she plans to use the influence of her position to spread awareness about domestic violence which lost her sister. Lewis also plans to write an incredible dissertation.